Seventeen's Vow
by GenkiPlus
Summary: It's their seventh and final year at Hogwarts. George and Noel are finally together. Umbridge is out to make everyone feel miserable and despise the color pink. And cats. Cats on plates. Fred has relationship issues of his own. And who keeps blowing up the fourth floor prefect toilets! Sequel to Becoming an Adult is Difficult! George/OC and possible Fred/OC.
1. I've Given Up Cake

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter universe, JK Rowling does! I do however own Noel Honeybourne and random OCs that will appear in this chapter and future chapters. **

**Seventeen's Vow is the second in my series of stories about George Weasley and Noel Honeybourne. The first in the series, Becoming an Adult is Difficult!, can be found in my list of stories and I highly encourage you to read that before starting on this one. It isn't absolutely necessary, but it'll clear up lots of confusion if you read it. This story will begin during the summer of George and Noel's seventh and final year at Hogwarts, and will end once Noel graduates. So please, enjoy the story! And don't forget to read and review!**

**Seventeen's Vow**

**Chapter One - I've Given Up Cake**

Chudley was a small town sandwiched between Newton Abbot and Exeter, in Devon England. There wasn't anything extraordinary about Chudley, most certainly not the fact that it was home to the Chudley Cannons Quidditch team. It was very familiar and plain, though there were quite a few modern buildings popping up around town, there were more traditional cottages than anything there. The center of town wasn't some fancy castle, it was in fact just a primary school. This was Noel Honeybourne's hometown. The place where she was born, the place where she spent the first eleven years of her life in. The place where she had been coming home to every summer since 1989.

Now that she was seventeen years old, Noel Honeybourne had a lot to think about. In less than a year, she would be graduating from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but after that she had no clue what to do with herself. Out of the six classes she received OWLs in during her fifth year, she only continued studying in five of them. She could work at the Ministry of Magic, she could work at that small little muggle bookstore she worked in for a few summers or she could take a bit of time off and travel. Noel had no idea what she wanted to do with her life after Hogwarts. Her mother, Lynette Honeybourne, wanted her to become a healer at St. Mungo's. While Noel's father, Alton, was trying to push her to try out for any quidditch team in the British and Irish League. Honestly, Noel was leaning towards quidditch, but don't tell her mother that.

Her boyfriend on the other hand, had his life seemingly all figured out. Noel Honeybourne had known George Weasley since right before they both started at Hogwarts. They had a little run in while getting their books at Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley, when Fred took the book Noel was reaching for, and wouldn't give it back right away. They didn't become good friends until their second year, when Noel was being bullied by a few Slytherin fourth years and the twins came to her rescue by setting off a bunch of dungbombs.

At least George knew what he wanted to do with his life. Open up a joke shop with his brother, Fred. Well, at least somebody knew what they wanted to do with their life. For now, Noel Honeybourne had other things to worry about.

* * *

It was the morning of July 12th, an unusually warm morning, and it was only going to get warmer. Molly Weasley's voice boomed throughout the Burrow, causing George to wake with a start. His twin brother, Fred, groaned in the other bed across the room. "Fred! George! Up in five minutes or I'm sending Ginny in after you two!" Molly Weasley shouted once again.

Fred stuffed a pillow over his head, hoping that he could avoid Ginny's impending wrath and fall back to sleep. Little did he know that he wouldn't be able to protect himself with just a pillow.

Footsteps could be heard going up and down the stairwells of the Burrow. Of course everyone else was up by now. Today was the day Noel Honeybourne's one and only brother was getting married. Naturally, George was going as Noel's date. And Molly and Arthur Weasley were invited as well, since Arthur knew Noel's father through their jobs at the ministry.

Fred wasn't going to the wedding but needed to get up with Ginny and Ron to pack everything for the trip they were taking after their parents got back from the wedding. Honestly, they weren't told much about it except they would be staying there until the start of the new school year.

"Ready or not, here I come!" Ginny shouted from her bedroom on the first floor, causing George to quickly jump out of his bed. Just as he opened up the door to the room he shared with Fred, Ginny was standing there in the hallway, grinning. "Looking forward to today?" Ginny asked George.

George stretched his arms above his head and nodded. Unfortunately he wasn't quite awake yet. "Haven't seen Noel in a few weeks." He did visit her at her home right after the school year ended, he'd been worried about her after Cedric's death. Honestly, he was still worried about her.

The youngest Weasley grinned at her brother. "You just miss her. Don't worry, I do too."

"Hush, child. I think dear Freddie set his alarm to '_little sister_'." George jerked his thumb back in the direction of Fred, who was fast asleep and sprawled out on his bed.

Ginny quickly ran into the room, causing George to finally make his escape to the bathroom. He only knew Fred was awake due to hearing his shouts for help coming from their bedroom. "Ouch! Ginny! What are you doing?! Too much violence! No! Not my toe! Give that back!"

* * *

George Weasley and his parents, Arthur and Molly, appeared on the doorstep of Noel's home later that morning. There wasn't anything exciting about it, just your typical cottage, two stories, shed along the side at the end of a gravel pathway. George had only been to Noel's house once, and it looked exactly how it did last month when he came to visit her.

"I hear Alton has a decent collection of muggle things." Arthur said excitedly, just as Molly knocked on the front door.

Molly frowned and rested her right hand on Arthur's arm. "After the wedding, please." No wonder Arthur and Alton got along.

Footsteps could be heard on the other side of the door before it swung open. "I am so glad to see the three of you!" Noel said, clearly out of breath. The petite girl stepped to the side, allowing the three Weasleys to come inside of her house.

Molly was the first to pull Noel in for a tight hug. "What's the matter, dear?" Molly asked the blonde when they pulled apart.

Noel shook her head and pointed towards the kitchen. "It's just mum, she's freaking out over the wedding." Molly frowned, patted Noel on the shoulder and walked into the kitchen.

Arthur then pulled Noel in for a hug and looked around the corridor. "Oh, my dad's out back, Mr. Weasley. He said something about a plunger and a golf club. No idea what that means." The blonde shrugged when Arthur pulled away, his eyes brightened at the mention of muggle items and with a quick wave, he walked towards the kitchen and out the back door.

George stood there, allowing himself to take all of this in. Here he was at his girlfriend's house, for her brother's wedding. Did George also mention that Noel was wearing a dress? The redhead hadn't seen her in a dress since the Yule Ball last Christmas at Hogwarts.

Did George forget to mention that Noel's dress was a very obnoxious shade of pink?

Noel noticed George's brown eyes on her and playfully smacked his arm. "This isn't my doing. Blame the future sister-in-law." Noel meant Alice, Bryce's fiancé.

"Oh, but I'll never let you live this down." George grinned, pulling Noel against him. "But thankfully you have such a devilishly handsome boyfriend, who won't hold this against you. He will however do this." George whispered, pulling Noel in for their first kiss in nearly three weeks.

"You don't know how much I've missed you. How much I've missed this." Noel whispered, letting her forehead rest against George's chest.

Normally, Noel was fine being by herself. She was used to it as she grew up because there was an eight year difference between Noel and Bryce, and having his baby sister around wasn't something Bryce wanted. But with Cedric's death barely a month ago, and not to mention the thought of Voldemort's return, it terrified her. It was Harry Potter's word against everyone else's, but as scared as she was, Noel believed him. Her parents thought she was crazy, but they were beginning to become weary. Noel was scared of losing her family, her friends and most of all, George.

George pulled away from Noel slightly and he gently held her face in his hands. He could see the look in her eyes. He saw it the day Cedric was killed and Harry Potter shouted that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back. She was scared, but so was he. But George knew he had to be strong for the both of them. He kissed her forehead and gently wiped away a few tears that had stumbled down Noel's cheeks. "Everything's going to be fine. I promise to take care of you."

That only made Noel cry even harder and bury her face into George's chest. This is what happens when all of your emotions are bottled up for too long. You eventually erupt like a volcano.

The pair stood there for a few minutes in silence. George ran his hand in soothing motions against Noel's back in an attempt to calm her down. It helped, because soon enough her sobs began to fade away.

"Sorry." Noel whispered when she finally pulled away from George.

The redhead smiled. "No need. It's just good to know you aren't a robot."

Noel broke into laughter and smiled. "Well, I'm not a robot, George Weasley. If I had been, I'd need an oil can because I would've rusted from all of this crying."

A knock on the front door made the pair jump, remembering they were in the corridor still. Noel went to open the door revealing Jessamy Hollingberry, her very best friend and a younger girl standing next to her.

"Lovebirds!" Jessamy shouted when she spotted George standing behind Noel.

"Jessamy! And wait, Anna?" Noel asked the younger girl to Jessamy's side.

George peered over Noel's shoulder and scrunched his eyebrows together in curiosity.

"Yep, you remember Anna, my sister. Mum brought her back from Tokyo last week. This is her first year at Hogwarts!" Jessamy's father was English, but her mother was Japanese. In their fifth year at Hogwarts, her parents got divorced. This left Jessamy's only other sibling, Anna, to live with their mother in Tokyo for half the year and with their father in London the other half. Now that she was eleven, she'd been spending even more time away from Japan and attending Hogwarts.

George ran a hand through his hair and laughed. He'd only met Anna once, but she was six years old and that was a long time ago. It was when they all met up in Diagon Alley before their second year. Not to mention George was so happy to see that Anna didn't share the same obsession with bows that Jessamy did. He and Noel had a plan to destroy those bows, and the sooner, the better.

Noel held her arms open to catch both Jessamy and Anna with a hug. It was nice to see them, even though it was only a few weeks ago when they last saw each other, years since she last saw Anna. Anna laughed, letting go of Noel and walked into the house. George bent down and held up his right hand for Anna. The young girl grinned and gave him a high-five. "I like her." The redhead said as he stood back up.

As Jessamy stepped inside, Noel closed the door behind the brunette. "Oh, in her primary school in Tokyo, she set off a bunch of dungbombs under all the other kids desks." Jessamy grinned. "Reminded me of you and Fred." Jessamy and Anna's mother had Anna attend a Japanese primary school until she received her Hogwarts acceptance letter.

Noel raised her hand in the air. "Don't corrupt her."

Anna pretended to pout, looking up at George. He nodded to Anna and they both turned to Noel.

"What?" The blonde asked. George and Anna were giving Noel those sad puppy dog stares. "First, I get that from George all the time. Now he has yet another partner in crime." She sighed, shaking her head.

"I promise to be good." George said.

Anna followed. "A perfect little angel."

"Two brilliant angels. Three if you include Fred." George continued.

"No, ogres don't count." Jessamy chimed in. "And besides," The brunette quickly covered Anna's ears with her hands. "It'll be George corrupting you, Honeybourne."

Noel's face flushed, she shook her head quickly.

George grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "Who says that hasn't happened yet?"

Jessamy steered Anna into the kitchen but quickly returned. This conversation was not for the innocent. "Wait. What?"

George only continued to grin, and Noel couldn't stop herself from blushing profusely.

"You're both just messing with me." Jessamy frowned.

Noel shrugged. "No idea what you're talking about."

"Wow! Cake!" Anna's voice could be heard from the kitchen.

"Anna, no!" Lynette Honeybourne's voice could be heard soon after.

"Anna is too much like Fred and this one here." Noel said, pointing to her boyfriend. "We're doomed."

* * *

The wedding was finally over, everyone could finally sit down and eat. The guest list was fairly small, close friends and family. But Noel was so glad George was there. They sat at a table together, watching Jessamy dance with Anna. Molly Weasley was talking with Noel's mother at another table not too far away from them. "Wonder what they're talking about." Noel asked.

George shook his head, eating his slice of cake. "Oh, mum's probably just saying how I'm so wonderful and how I'm her favorite child." He grinned, offering the blonde some of his cake. Red velvet cake.

"Nah, I've given up cake." Noel shook her head. What she really wanted to do was take her shoes off. But at least Alice decided against making all of her bridesmaids wear heels, Noel was happy to be wearing flats at least. Wearing flats only made George so much taller than her, Noel disliked being short.

George's brown eyes blinked. "There is no way in this universe you'd give up cake. Especially red velvet. Are you feeling okay?" He went to place the back of his hand against Noel's forehead, seeing if she had a fever.

Just then, both Molly and Lynette stood up and started to walk over to George and Noel's table. The blonde's green eyes widened. "Never mind. I'll have that cake now." She said quickly, taking George's plate out of his hands. "My cake!" George frowned.

"Oh, Noel dear, I wanted to say that you were absolutely beautiful walking down that aisle." Molly beamed, gently nudging George as she spoke. This nearly made Noel choke on her cake.

"Actually, honey, Molly and I were just talking." Lynette chimed in. Talking? That wasn't ever a good thing.

"Picking out china patterns?" George joked. Molly shot him a look, causing George to only smile sheepishly in return.

As Noel finished the cake, Lynette continued to speak. "You see, I have to take your grandmum back to London early tomorrow morning. And your father won't be around so much due to work." Molly quickly jumped in. "But we discussed it, and we'd love to have you come with us until the start of the new term." George and Noel exchanged glances.

"Really?" Noel asked, looking from Molly to her own mother. Both women nodded. "We'd both feel so much better if you weren't alone in this old house for the rest of the summer." Lynette said, with Molly nodding in agreement.

"Why don't you go change and get packed?" Lynette asked. Noel nodded, looking over at George. "It shouldn't take me long." She wanted to get changed into something much more comfortable, anyways. The blonde stood up, giving George a smile before making her way back into the house. "Oh, George. Noel took your cake. Let me get you another piece. She's always hijacking food from other people."

George went to protest but it was too late, Lynette had already left to get him another piece. Molly turned to her son and smiled. "How is she doing?" She asked about Noel. "She looks better." Molly didn't want to admit it, but she worried about Noel. Maybe more than her own mother did.

George looked up to Noel's open bedroom window. "She seems fine. But I know she's just trying to put on a brave face." The redhead looked up at his mother and nodded his head. "I think getting away will help." Molly nodded in agreement and smiled once again when Lynette returned with a new plate of cake. "There you go, make sure Noel doesn't take that one from you, too." Noel's mother patted George on the shoulder before wandering away. Molly and George exchanged glances.

"Just let us know when Noel's ready. I need ample amount of time dragging your father away from Alton and that plunger." Molly shook her head and went to go say hello to Noel's brother, Bryce and his new wife, Alice.

* * *

Up in her room, Noel had already changed. Not that she had anything against the bridesmaid dress Alice picked out, Noel was more comfortable in her usual clothes. She threw on a pair of shorts and a striped peplum tank top, and was currently running around her room without any shoes on. There was so much to pack with so little time, she hated keeping the Weasleys waiting. Noel lined the shoes she would need for school up, her blue pair of sneakers, her distressed lace up boots, and a simple pair of flats. The sneakers are what she would be wearing the most, she probably didn't even need the others. There was no reason for her to buy new uniforms or robes, she hadn't grown much since third year. So she quickly packed her uniform and robes into her trunk.

"Knock, knock."

Noel looked up from her trunk to see her brother, Bryce, standing in her doorway. It was easy to tell they were related, they shared the same blonde hair they received from their mother, and the same light green eyes from their father. Though the similarities ended there. Bryce was tall, a good 6'3" compared to Noel's 5'1". He had the build of a quidditch beater, which made sense because he was a beater for the Ravenclaw quidditch team for five years before he graduated. "Come in, Bryce." Noel offered.

Her brother entered her room and laughed. "You need this much stuff for Hogwarts?" He glanced around the room with everything scattered about. Clothes, shoes, some school books, you name it and it was probably on the floor somewhere. Bryce was willing to bet that some of the stuff on his sister's floor happened to be alive.

"As a matter of fact, yes. I do." Noel grinned, folding a few shirts and putting them into her trunk.

Bryce bent down and picked up his sister's broomstick, the Nimbus 2001 that he gave her for her fourteenth birthday. "Can't forget this. Going to play quidditch this year?" He placed her broom next to her bed.

Folding a few pairs of pants and some sorts, Noel nodded. "With Oliver gone, I'm the starting Keeper. But I've been thinking of trying out for Chaser." The blonde shrugged, looking around her room to see what else she needed to bring with her.

Her brother stood there, arms crossed over his chest. "Why not stay as keeper? Wood's graduated, you're next in line."

Noel shook her head. "I haven't really decided yet." Though she had decided. She wanted to be a chaser. She wanted to graduate from Hogwarts and tryout for any team she could in the British and Irish Quidditch League. And she had a much better chance of landing a team if she were a chaser. She wasn't meant to be a beater, nor did she have the patience of a seeker. Noel was fairly good as keeper, but she wanted to give chaser a try. "We'll see what happens."

Bryce sat down at the end of his sister's bed as she finished packing. "I just wanted to thank you for being in the wedding. It made Alice happy."

Noel stood next to the window, gathering up a few scattered school supplies on her desk. "Well, I had fun. It was beautiful, though. Do you guys know what you're going to name the baby yet?" Alice, Bryce's wife was seven months pregnant. Normally they would've postponed the wedding, but they had everything set up and decided to go along with it anyway. Her brother shook his head. "Not yet. Alice has decided that once she sees the baby, she'll know exactly what to name them."

The blonde laughed, glancing out the window. There was George, playing a card game with Anna on the patio. He looked so happy. And Anna didn't seem to drive him crazy. When you first meet the youngest Hollingberry, you can only handle her in small doses. But George immediately took a liking to her.

Bryce looked at Noel, noticing she wasn't paying any attention. He stood up and walked over to the window, seeing exactly what she was looking at. "You really like him, don't you?" Bryce nodded his head in George's direction. Noel jumped slightly, coming back to reality. "Yeah." Was all she was able to say.

Patting her shoulder, Bryce smiled. "I just want you to be happy. But if he hurts you, I will punch him in the face. Break a few bones." Noel held up her hands, laughing. "You'd have to get in line with Jessamy."

"Noel? Are you ready yet?" Her mother's voice wandered through the house.

"Coming!" Noel shouted back, turning away from the window. She quickly put on a pair of sneakers before she could run downstairs barefoot.

With help from Bryce, Noel was able to gather up all of her belongings and lug them down the stairs. Bryce took hold of her school trunk, while Noel carried her pink duffel and backpack in her hands. "I think I'm ready. Maybe." She bit her bottom lip, hopefully she hadn't forgotten anything. Afraid of forgetting, she quickly shuffled through her backpack and found the leather journal Cedric gave to her just before he died. Good, it was still there. She still hadn't opened it yet, she was afraid to. It was as if she read what was written, nothing would ever be the same. These were the last words she'd ever hear of Cedric Diggory ever again.

Noel's parents hugged their daughter goodbye, wishing her luck in her final year at Hogwarts. Her parents hugged her for an unusually long time, which was nice. Her parents weren't awfully affectionate, but it was nice when they were. "Be good. Don't bother the Weasleys too much. And we'll write. And please, consider becoming a healer. You'll love it." Lynette said after she hugged her daughter. All Noel could do was nod in response. "I'll think about it." She whispered.

"Oy!" Jessamy appeared in the kitchen doorway. "Don't you dare leave without saying goodbye!" The brunette stomped her foot. Noel ran over to her best friend and hugged her. "I'll write to you as soon as I can. Promise." Noel stepped back and stretched out her arm, leaving her pinky finger extended. "You better." Jessamy responded, linking her pinky to Noel's in a pinky promise. "I'll see you in September."

Once everyone was gathered, along with Noel's things, the blonde waved goodbye to her family. Jessamy and Anna stood there, waving back and shouting something about cake. And with that, Noel and the three Weasleys disapparated.

* * *

**Author's Note: And there you go, the first chapter of Seventeen's Vow! I hope you all enjoyed it and look forward to the upcoming chapters! I actually have a job interview tomorrow so if all goes well, I'll be making money again. But! I'll still have plenty of time to update, so don't worry! And as usual, please read and review~! I'll always appreciate it! Thank you, guys!**


	2. The Apple Murder Case

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter universe, JK Rowling does! I do however own Noel Honeybourne and random OCs that will appear in this chapter and future chapters. **

**Seventeen's Vow is the second in my series of stories about George Weasley and Noel Honeybourne. The first in the series, Becoming an Adult is Difficult!, can be found in my list of stories and I highly encourage you to read that before starting on this one. It isn't absolutely necessary, but it'll clear up lots of confusion if you read it. This story will begin during the summer of George and Noel's seventh and final year at Hogwarts, and will end once Noel graduates. So please, enjoy the story! And don't forget to read and review!**

**Seventeen's Vow**

**Chapter Two - "The Apple Murder Case"**

The next morning, Noel didn't want to get up. She didn't even know what time it was, but it was definitely morning since there was a bit of sunlight shining into the bedroom she shared with Ginny Weasley. Footsteps could also be heard somewhere in the house, or wherever she was. Honestly, it took Noel a few minutes to remember where she was the moment she opened her eyes. The room was fairly lit, but only from the window. Ginny was asleep in the second bed a few feet away from Noel's. Noel wasn't at the Burrow, she was in London, the borough of Islington to be more precise. 12 Grimmauld Place, Islington, London, England.

The previous evening, after Noel arrived at the Burrow with Molly, Arthur and George, everyone gathered in the kitchen. Arthur and Molly explained that they would be heading to London for the rest of the summer. When asked why, they didn't give a definitive answer. But according to Fred it had something to do with Percy. He had apparently disowned his family, and left Molly heartbroken. That git, Percy.

But that wasn't even the strange part of the story.

Noel wasn't even sure if she'd imagined everything, everything that Molly and Arthur told them. The house they would be staying in for the rest of the summer, 12 Grimmauld Place, was now the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. The revival of the original Order of the Phoenix from 1981, the secret society founded by Dumbledore to oppose Voldemort and his band of terrifying Death Eaters.

Get this, that wasn't even the strange part of the story.

12 Grimmauld Place belonged to none other than Sirius Black. Who after much explaining, turned out to be innocent of all he was charged of. He wasn't the one who betrayed Harry Potter's parents, murdered twelve muggles, but it was someone named Peter Pettigrew, who in turn framed Sirius Black.

Now, that was the strange part of the story.

Noel didn't need much convincing. The Weasleys were a good judge of character, so the blonde had no reason to not believe them. Everyone was told to behave, and that those underage such as Ron, Ginny and Hermione, weren't allowed to be official members of the Order. But Noel was of age, though she was still in school. Her head shot up, as well as both George and Fred but Molly quickly shook her head, telling the three of them, "No. Don't even think about it."

So when Noel finally remembered all that happened the previous night, she immediately smashed her pillow against her face. She didn't want to get up, it was the middle of their summer holiday, she wanted to stay in bed for the rest of the day. 12 Grimmauld Place was gloomy, and so far it certainly wasn't helping make her feel any better. Sighing, she realized it would be pointless if she went back to sleep, so she got up. Looking over at Ginny, she saw her friend was still asleep, and she didn't want to wake her.

Padding softly down the stairs, Noel entered what she remembered to be the kitchen from last night. Looking around the room, she heaved a sigh of relief noticing she was the only one there. Which was good because she didn't exactly want the entire world seeing her in her pajamas. Not that her pajamas were embarrassing, they consisted of a pair of sweat shorts and a very old Puddlemere United t-shirt.

Noel sat down at the long wooden table and just looked around. This place was just strange, dark and in some odd way it was better than being at home by herself. At least here she was surrounded by other people. That was much better than being alone with herself. Her thoughts could easily get carried away and Noel just wanted a distraction.

"Oh, Noel. I didn't know you were up yet." A voice called out from the kitchen door.

Noel jumped slightly, realizing the voice belonged to Molly Weasley.

"Sorry. I couldn't sleep anymore." The blonde gave Molly a smile before setting her arms on the kitchen table.

Molly took a seat next to Noel and studied the young girl's face. Her own mother used to do that, but ever since her grandmum got sick, she stopped. "How are you feeling?" Molly asked.

Horrible. Tired. Possibly getting a migraine. And really, really hungry. "I'm okay."

Molly raised her eyebrows and shook her head. That was it, Molly knew Noel was lying. It was like Noel's face was an open book that said _Look at me, I'm possibly emotionally unstable and would really love to eat a taco!_ "Listen, I know you're sad. But it will get better. I promise. We're all here for you, even if your parents aren't. Oh, I shouldn't have said that."

Noel was trying not to cry but all she could do was nod her head. And as much as she tried not to, the tears still rolled down her cheeks. Molly frowned and went to say something but Noel interrupted her. "Mrs. Weasley?"

"Yes, dear?" There was more emotion on Molly's face than on Noel's own mothers face when she came home and cried about Cedric dying.

"Can I have eggs for breakfast?" Noel said quietly between sniffles. It was ridiculous the way she was acting. She just needed to get over it and from that moment on, Noel was going to try and stay positive.

Molly gave the blonde a smile and patted her shoulder before standing up. "Eggs it is, dear."

It wasn't until Molly set the plate of eggs, bacon and toast down in front of Noel that the others started getting up. First it was Ginny, which wasn't much of a surprise, then George and Fred, followed by an extra-hungry Ron. Maybe it was good that Noel got up first, at least Ron wouldn't be able to eat everything in this place.

"I thought I smelled bacon." Ron said as he sat down at the table across from Ginny. Fred rolled his eyes. "I think this one here has the nose of a bloodhound." Ron made a face at Fred but Molly interrupted them.

"Hermione's coming later. So girls," Molly looked in Ginny and Noel's direction. "Try not to mess up your room too much since she'll be staying with you. And," Molly began setting plates full of breakfast in front of everyone else. "You're free to do whatever it is you want today. But you have to stay in the house for now. Later I'm going to need you all to help me clean this place up. Make it livable." Noel nodded as she finished her breakfast, while Ginny did the same. The boys just looked tired and only gave groans in response.

Cleaning never really bothered Noel. She had chores for as long as she could remember and the only one she ever hated doing was the laundry. And shoveling snow, my how Noel hated the snow sometimes. "Does this mean we get to sleep all day if we want?" Fred's question interrupted Noel's thoughts.

That didn't seem to please Molly but she nodded her head. "Fine but for today only. I don't want you all ruining your sleep schedules. You have to be right back on track when you go back to Hogwarts."

Fred laughed, nudging Noel with his elbow. "It's like she thinks we even sleep when we're at school!" This caused Noel to smile a little bit, George noticed. At least the blonde seemed to be feeling better.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Noel had finally cleaned herself up and changed into something other than her pajamas. With the same shorts she had on yesterday and a different tank top, she tried to figure out what to do. George and Fred went back to bed, Ginny was downstairs reading and Ron was probably eating in the house. So Noel decided to open up her backpack and look through the quidditch pamphlets her father left her. Days before the wedding, she asked her father what she needed to do if she wanted to further her career in quidditch, and what teams he thought she'd best fit in with.

He'd only given her a few pamphlets, but he said he'd try and get more later and send them to her while she was at school. She'd set the pamphlets out across her bed and just stared at them. If this is really what she wanted to do with her life, she needed to get serious about it. Her chin rested in the palm of her hand as she stared at the pamphlets. Maybe one would jump up and say, _pick me, pick me_! That'd make this process a whole lot easier.

"What's so interesting?" George's voice made Noel look up and see him standing in her doorway. The redhead smiled at her and walked in the room, sitting down at the end of her bed. "You do realize your mum will probably flip if she finds us alone in my room." Noel grinned at her boyfriend and he waved his hand in the air. "Oh, come on. She'd murder me, but you're the angel who can do no wrong." George said before pressing his lips to Noel's.

They stayed like that for what seemed like forever, Noel's hands wandering to George's face, his hands made their way to her waist. But when they broke apart, she could feel the heat rising to her cheeks. "I'd prefer your mum not kill you, you know." The blonde whispered.

George grinned, shaking his head. "She's down in the kitchen talking with Sirius. So I think we're safe." George inched closer to Noel, but instead his fingers attacked her sides in a full scale tickle attack.

This was one of those times when Noel hated that George knew where exactly she was ticklish. "Gah! George!" Noel laughed, falling back on her bed, on top of the quidditch pamphlets. "Please, please stop!" She was laughing, which was George's plan all along.

"Nope. This is infinitely more entertaining than drawing moustaches on Ron's face as he sleeps." George laughed, pining Noel down against her bed with one hand, while his other hand continued the tickle assault.

"You better stop or I might accidentally kick you in the face!" Noel squirmed around the bed, laughing. But resisting was useless, George was much stronger than she was. And if she laughed any louder, Molly would appear in the room and murder them both. "Mercy! Mercy!" Noel choked out between fits of giggles. Thankfully, George did stop. Which was good because if he continued doing that any longer, there was no telling what would've happened. She may have peed her pants or slammed her foot into his face.

George gave Noel a second to catch her breath before leaning down and kissing her lips softly. The papers on her bed caught his attention and he picked one up. "Oh, what's this?" He asked, sitting back up, which allowed Noel to sit back up as well. George's brown eyes scanned the paper he picked up, then began to read some of it out loud. "Puddlemere United Quidditch tryouts? Tutshill Tornadoes? Pride of Portree? Holyhead Harpies?" He blinked, looking over at Noel.

Noel gathered up the other pieces of paper and neatly set them on her lap. "Yeah, you know, I've been thinking. You know how my mum desperately wants me to become a healer?" Noel asked, looking at George. The redhead nodded, allowing her to continue. "I was talking to my dad and he seems to support me in wanting to play quidditch." All Noel had to do was wait. George would probably hate the idea. Her mother thought it was too dangerous for her only daughter to be playing quidditch for Gryffindor, what was she going to say when Noel wanted to play quidditch professionally?

But it never came, instead George had the biggest grin on his face. "Just whatever you do, don't pick the Canons. Because Ron'll be your biggest fan and I can't let that happen."

The blonde shook her head and smiled. "Oh, definitely not the Canons. I want to play somewhere that isn't my hometown. And here I'd hope you'd be my biggest fan." Noel sighed, pretending to be hurt, placing a hand on her chest.

"Biggest fan, I'll wear a shirt with your face on it. Then maybe mum would be able to tell me apart from Fred." George clasped his hands together, trying so hard not to laugh.

The pair continued to sit there and laugh. It was the happiest Noel felt in the last month. And it was always because of George. He always knew how to make her laugh, how to get her out of a funk. Noel had absolutely no idea what she'd do without her boyfriend.

"And here I thought you'd be able to help me and Fred out with the shop." George said, suddenly turning serious.

"Shop? You mean, you're really going through with it?" Noel asked. It'd been all the twins could talk about before, but she was never sure it would really happen. George nodded, leaning in a little closer to Noel and whispering, "Harry gave us his Triwizard winnings. Said to put it towards the shop. You're the first to find out, but Fred and I'll have our shop sometime next year."

Noel's eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with her hands to keep the squeals from coming out. She bounced on the bed and wrapped her arms around George in a tight hug. "Oh, I'm so proud of you! Of you two!" George latched his arms around her waist and smiled. At least somebody was happy for them. He had no doubt in his mind that Noel would be happy, she wasn't normally one to smash another person's hopes and dreams. They pulled apart, but George caught Noel's hands in his. "But no, really. I'm so happy for you both. How do you think your mum will take it?"

George shook his head, absolutely unsure of how Molly will take it. "Doubt she'll be thrilled, but we'll see." Fred and George weren't like their older brothers. They were never Prefects, never the most perfect students, definitely not your typical role model. They were Fred and George, they were unique. And they enjoyed being that way. And that's how Noel liked them.

"Well, I'm proud of you. But really, your mum'll come around." Noel nodded, kissing George's cheek. The redhead smiled and set the quidditch pamphlets back onto Noel's bed. "It looks like we're both doing something that our mothers don't want. I'm sure you feel the same way I do, but I want to do something with my life that I'll enjoy." His smile turned to a grin. George was right. Just because her mother was a healer, and her aunts as well, doesn't mean that Noel had to be one, too.

* * *

Hermione Granger arrived later that afternoon, Noel had been down in one of the living rooms reading a book she found, _The Apple Murder Case, _when she arrived. It sounded interesting, only who would want to murder an apple? Apples were delicious. George and Fred had gone into their room and were clearly experimenting, because at one point they heard Fred shout something about how his eyebrows had gone missing. "Where the bloody hell did my eyebrows go?!" Ginny was sitting on the sofa next to Noel, reading another book. And Noel was counting down the seconds it would take for Ron to come downstairs now that Hermione was here.

"The Apple Murder Case?" Ginny asked Noel as she studied the cover to her book. "What is that? Murderous apples? Apples going on rampage?"

The blonde shrugged and turned the book over in her hands. "No idea. It sounded interesting at the time, but really it's just putting me to sleep." Noel opened the book back up and began reading again.

Ginny laughed and Hermione entered the living room and sat on another chair. "If it's putting you to sleep, how come you're still reading it?" Ginny asked. She had a good point. "Well, there's nothing else to do around here and now I need to find out what happens to the apple." Hermione and Ginny laughed while Noel grinned behind the book.

"Dinner!" Molly Weasley shouted from the kitchen.

It seemed like everyone gathered for dinner that evening. Sirius Black was there, at the end of the table. Remus Lupin dropped by, along with Mad-Eye Moody. The _real_ Mad-Eye Moody. When Noel found out that someone was impersonating Moody last year at Hogwarts, it all made sense. No wonder he creeped the living daylights out of her before. Now he was just slightly less creepy. But Noel just looked around the room and smiled. It was like they were one rag-tag family, and the blonde was far more happier here than she would be all alone at home for the rest of the summer.

* * *

As everyone was getting ready for bed, the girls settled into their room. Now that Hermione was there, she was staying in the same room as Ginny and Noel. Three girls in one cramped room could get hectic, but hopefully it wouldn't be too much of a problem. They all bid one another goodnight and turned out the only light in the room.

Once Noel thought Hermione and Ginny were fast asleep, she pulled the leather journal from Cedric out from underneath her pillow. As her bed was next to the window, Noel was able to read by the moonlight and not have to turn a light on and wake any of the other girls up. Her heart raced as her hands wandered over the cover. It was now or never, if she didn't gather up the courage to open that journal up now, she might never be able to. Closing her eyes, Noel took a deep breath. _Come on, Noel. You can do this. This isn't a monster book from Hagrid, it won't bite_.

Noel opened her eyes and cracked open the book. There was a title page, and it was creatively decorated to say _Happy 17__th__ Birthday, Noel!_, and had cute little pictures drawn around the page. There was a picture of a cake someone drew. Another picture of Noel herself, it looked like Jessamy's not so glorious artistic skills. Someone even drew a little peacock in the top right corner, causing Noel to laugh a little. Though she quickly looked up and around the room, making sure Hermione and Ginny were still asleep. Ginny's snoring confirmed this, at least. She had to admit, she had some creative friends. Noel took another deep breath and turned the page. George was right, he had given Cedric the very first page. It was now or never, so Noel decided to read on.

_Happy Birthday, Noel!_

_You're finally 17! Now you get to join the rest of us in adulthood! While still attending school, of course! I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am for how things started out this year. Between myself and George and putting you in the middle. It's clear that the better man won, and I know I've told you this before but, you're just so happy when you're around him. But that's the last I want to say about that. The book is closed._

_Are you looking forward to our final year of school? One more year and we'll be in the 'real world'! That's pretty scary. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do, probably work at the Ministry. At first it's just what my dad wanted, but then the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. Maybe I don't want to work in the same department as him, but there're plenty of jobs at the Ministry. I could work there and not even run into him. What do you think you're going to do? It'd be awesome if you went on to play quidditch. Your dad will probably love that. Whoever you end up playing for, make sure you get me some tickets! Haha. And I can tell everyone that I'm friends with a famous quidditch player!_

_You're a wonderful person, and you don't give yourself enough credit. I've seen your work in Transfiguration. You're probably the one person who is better at vanishment than I am. Not trying to boast, but you're really good. It's no wonder you're one of Professor McGonagall's favorites. Lucky! But really, I don't ever want you to change. You're always so happy, so bubbly. You're so easy to talk to. Honestly you'd make a great professor, you make everyone feel at ease. It's always fun playing against Gryffindor in quidditch. You guys actually put up a fight unlike a certain batch of serpents._

_This is getting long, so I should cut it off here. George is currently staring at me, saying it's his turn to write. He's right. I hope you like your present. It's meant for you to look back on, especially after we graduate, so you can remember all of the fond memories you've made. Thank you for supporting me during the Triwizard Tournament, we'll see how the final task turns out. And tell Fred it most likely has nothing to do with Snape's underwear. Don't forget about the Puddlemere match over the summer holiday! And don't forget to write._

_Happy Birthday, again!_

_Cedric Diggory_

Noel closed the leather book and hugged it to her chest. But for once, and much to her surprise, the tears didn't come out. Here she thought that after reading what Cedric wrote, she would've been upset. But she wasn't. She could always look back on these words and smile, knowing that Cedric only wanted the best for her. He may have felt differently about her than she did about him, but he just wanted to see her happy.

"Thank you, Cedric." Noel whispered as quietly as she could, and put the leather journal back underneath her pillow. She decided then that each night before she goes to sleep, she should read one new entry in the journal. And tomorrow she'd get to read what George wrote for her.

"Stupid Ron, I'm so much better than Fleur." Hermione mumbled in her sleep. Noel smiled at this, letting her head fall against her pillow. And for the first night in quite some time, the blonde was able to fall asleep without feeling the need to cry.

* * *

**Author's Note****: Phew! I know it seems like I'm churning out chapter after chapter, but as it turns out I got the job I interviewed for today. [Come get your designer shoes from me! I no longer have to wear a frumpy uniform!] And I may end up going back to school at the same time. I'll do my best to post as often as I can! I honestly think I should try to balance the job before I throw school into the mix. But we'll see! Thanks for the review, michness~ And thank you for the good luck! It certainly helped! And don't forget to review guys! I appreciate the follows and the favorites so far.**


	3. Becoming an Independent Girl

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter universe, JK Rowling does! I do however own Noel Honeybourne and random OCs that will appear in this chapter and future chapters. **

**Seventeen's Vow is the second in my series of stories about George Weasley and Noel Honeybourne. The first in the series, Becoming an Adult is Difficult!, can be found in my list of stories and I highly encourage you to read that before starting on this one. It isn't absolutely necessary, but it'll clear up lots of confusion if you read it. This story will begin during the summer of George and Noel's seventh and final year at Hogwarts, and will end once Noel graduates. So please, enjoy the story! And don't forget to read and review!**

**Seventeen's Vow**

**Chapter Three - "For the Sake of Becoming an Independent Girl"**

It was finally the beginning of August, summer was halfway over at this point. And Noel felt like they'd been stuck at 12 Grimmauld Place for ages now. Thanks to Fred and George's latest invention, the Extendable Ears, all the kids in the house were able to hear everything going on. Well, most of the time. Their last bit of information was that Harry Potter and his dimwitted cousin Dudley were attacked by Dementors and now Harry was being expelled from Hogwarts. Wasn't it fine to use underage magic if it was a matter of life or death? Noel shook her head. They also heard members of the Order talk about retrieving Harry and bringing him to headquarters as soon as they could. And there was something about a disciplinary hearing for Harry and the Improper Use of Magic Office but they unfortunately didn't get to hear what that was about.

All because Molly found out about the Extendable Ears and basically went on a rampage. They managed to hide a few of them, but Molly got hold of most of them and disposed of them. Noel remembered giving George a look as Molly searched all of their rooms. The blonde hated doing it, but she managed to hide one or two of them in her trunk. Molly wouldn't think to look in there. "You owe me." Noel mouthed to the twins as Molly's back was turned on them. The twins gave her a thumbs up after Molly left the room.

"I hate doing that, you know. Your mum trusts me." Noel frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.

George and Fred stood in the doorway, mimicking Noel's stance. "Ah, but see now we owe you." Fred spoke, then George finished his thought. "So we're forever at your service, Lady Noel." And they bowed to the blonde as they left the room. Noel rolled her eyes and sat down on her bed. There wasn't anything to do here, they spent most of their day cleaning this dusty place up, and then after they ate dinner, they sat around doing not much of anything. Noel ended up going to bed incredibly early most of the time or reading the journal she got from Cedric.

And unfortunately, she and George didn't get very much alone time in a place constantly bustling with people. They tried on countless occasions, but they would either be interrupted by Ginny or Fred, or the sounds of Molly's footsteps on the stairwells. They'd just have to keep trying.

Noel had been feeling loads better, she was still deeply saddened by Cedric's death, but she had plenty of distractions about her to keep her occupied. Every few days she'd go into the library and Sirius would let her pick out a different book to read. Ginny also developed this habit. Oddly enough Hermione didn't, because she brought enough books to fill up an entire room in this place. Or multiple rooms.

Not to mention Noel hadn't heard a bit of news from her parents. Which didn't exactly surprise her. They had other things to worry about, and they were probably way more excited to welcome their first grandchild any day now. It's like they didn't even realize their one and only daughter wasn't home, nor did they care. Noel sighed, she was just being overly dramatic, but she was still frustrated.

It wasn't until the evening when Harry Potter arrived at 12 Grimmauld Place when she heard any news. They were all sitting in the kitchen, literally, everyone was there. Sirius was explaining the Order to Harry and he expressed how he wanted to fight. Noel immediately looked to Sirius and nodded her head. He had no problem with them joining, and though Harry wasn't of age, Noel and the twins were. But Molly wasn't having any of it. She slammed a copy of the Daily Prophet down on the table and had to leave the room. Well, even if Molly wasn't her mother, she seemed to care a lot more about her than her own mother did.

Arthur had just arrived back from work, but he stopped by Noel and handed her a letter. "I saw your father today. He wanted me to give this to you." The older redhead smiled and patted Noel's back before he went to sit down at the table.

Noel turned the letter over in her hands. It wasn't from her father, she only realized it because the handwriting was completely legible. She immediately recognized that the handwriting belonged to her brother, Bryce.

_Noel,_

_You ought to know that you're finally an aunt! And now you don't have to worry about the Honeybourne name dying with me, because it's a boy! Rory Daniel Honeybourne was born on August 1__st__, very very early in the morning. I don't remember the precise time, but if you ask Alice, she'll tell you and then say everything was my fault. Just like she shouted the entire time she was in labour. _

_But we're only here for a few more days at St. Mungo's. And I know you're still away but if you could, we'd love if you came to visit us. Mum's been here nonstop, she hasn't even left yet. How about that? Though please, try to come. If you can't, we'll understand. When we get pictures, we'll send some to you! Congratulations on becoming an aunt!_

_Love,_

_Bryce_

George was sitting next to Noel as she read the letter. When she finished reading it in her head, she looked up and saw nearly everyone's eyes on her. The blonde looked around the room and folded the letter back up, stuffing it back into it's envelope. "Well?" George asked.

"I guess you can say that I'm an aunt?" Noel broke out into a huge smile, waving the envelope in the air. Everyone cheered, sending congratulations Noel's way, asking her a bunch of questions as well. She did her best answering them, though she didn't know much. "I have a little nephew, Rory, he was born yesterday. And my brother wants me to come visit them, but I don't know." The blonde shrugged her shoulders and stuffed the envelope into her back shorts pocket.

"Well, why not?" Ginny asked, looking over to her dad and now Molly, who had come back into the kitchen as Noel broke the news. Molly and Arthur exchanged glances and shrugged their shoulders.

"I suppose this is a rare occasion, how about going tomorrow?" Noel looked up to Molly and gave her a big smile. "On one condition. Either myself or Arthur goes with you. We'd feel much better if you didn't go alone." Molly spoke, sitting back down at the table to finally enjoy her dinner.

"Oh, but she wouldn't be going alone. I was going to go along." George said and Ginny laughed. "I wanted to go, too!" Arthur laughed. "If it's fine by your mother, then you two can tag along."

Molly eyed her husband, than her children. She then sighed, nodding her head. "Alright, but just this once. We'll go first thing tomorrow morning. But once we get back, you three have to help clean out that study. It's as if no one's been in there for centuries." Sirius turned to Molly and laughed. "You're probably right about that one. That's where I was supposed to study."

Fred sat next to George and pretended to wipe the sweat off of his forehead. "At least I got out of cleaning out that study."

* * *

The next morning, Noel was up at her usual time. She managed to get cleaned up and change just before Ginny woke up. It was quite difficult at first, sharing a bathroom with so many other people. But they managed to make it work. It was already very warm out, so Noel knew that as the day wore on, it would only get hotter. So the blonde threw on a star print romper, because it was the easiest thing to wear on a hot summer day. As she was tying the laces of her shoes, Ginny came back in from getting ready.

After a quick breakfast and playing a game called 'Wake George Up' by tossing balled up napkins at the redhead, Molly asked them if they were ready to go. George was finally starting to wake up, after a balled up napkin thrown by Ginny hit him in the eye. Once bidding whoever was up a quick goodbye, they were off.

Noel had only been to St. Mungo's once, and that was right when her grandmum first got sick. She hadn't been back since, nor did she have any real desire to. But she was doing this for her brother, and her new little nephew. Bryce was the only person in her family that actually treated Noel as such, and she didn't want to disappoint him.

The group entered Purge and Dowse by telling a mannequin in one of the shop windows why they were there. "I'd like to visit my brother and newborn nephew, please." Noel asked, indicating that she had guests with her as well. The mannequin nodded and allowed them entrance through the window, where they walked into the reception area of St. Mungo's. It was the same as Noel remembered, big, white and smelled exactly like a hospital should. Once they figured out where they were going, they wandered down a hallway and through what seemed like a maze before they reached a door that read _Honeybourne_ off to the side.

Noel knocked on the door and waited a few seconds before someone answered. Bryce stood there after opening the door, a big smile on his face. Seemed like fatherhood was already treating him well. "You made it! And George, Ginny, Mrs. Weasley." Bryce nodded, standing aside to letting the four visitors in.

"Alice stepped out for a bit, they wanted her to get up and walk around. She was getting restless anyways. But she should be back soon." Bryce said as the others entered the room. Noel looked around the room, noticing the _It's a boy!_ banner at one end of the room, a bunch of flowers littered the windowsill and cards were all over the place. "Mum's out with Alice, too. But she'll be happy to see you're here, Noel." Bryce said as he went over to where Rory slept.

"Aw! He's so precious!" Ginny tried so hard to contain her delight when they saw the baby. It was always so hard to tell which parent a newborn looked like. They all looked the same to Noel, but if she ever had children, perhaps it would be different for her. Everyone crowed around while Bryce held baby Rory in his arms. "Want to hold him?" He asked Noel.

Now that made Noel nervous. "What if I drop him?" She never held a baby before, this was all new to her. Bryce just told her it would be fine and he gently placed the sleeping baby in the blonde's arms. At first all Noel was able to think about was not dropping the baby. _Please don't drop him, please just don't drop him._

"Hello there, Rory." Noel whispered, rocking the baby gently in her arms. "I'm your aunt, Noel." It wasn't as if the baby could respond to her, it was just nice talking to him. George stood next to Noel, smiling as he spoke to the sleeping baby. "And I am not your aunt but your aunt means a lot to me, so you better help me take good care of her." Ginny stood next to Molly, bouncing on her heels. Noel turned to Ginny and smiled. "Do you want to hold him?" Bryce nodded that it was fine with him and Noel gently passed Rory off to Ginny. Molly stood by just in case, telling Ginny how to correctly hold a baby. After all, Molly had lots of practice with babies.

Bryce bent down and nudged Noel with his elbow, whispering, "Who knows, maybe this'll happen to you two some day." The taller blonde grinned and watched as Noel's face turned a bright shade of pink. George bit his bottom lip and was entirely grateful that his mother didn't hear that. "I'm just messing with you two." Bryce said, patting George's back.

Over the next few minutes, Bryce allowed Molly and George to also hold the baby, though George didn't hold him for long. He admitted to not wanting to drop him, and his mother was having too much fun watching him hold a newborn. Eventually, Rory was placed back down to finish his nap and everyone sat down.

As the group began talking, more like Bryce and Molly did most of the talking, Alice and Lynette returned from their walk. Alice was the complete opposite of Noel's brother. She was fairly short, though not as short as Noel. She had long black hair, and bright blue eyes. The two of them seemed to be laughing before they saw there were visitors in their room. Noel said hello to her mother but didn't get much more than a wave in response. At least Alice was happy to see Noel, she gave her a big hug when she walked into the room before laying back down in her hospital bed. Lynette didn't talk as much, but she sat next to Molly and did a little bit of chatting.

Noel looked at George and frowned. "Did I do something wrong?" She whispered to George and he shook his head. "Not that I know of." He replied.

The blonde frowned. "I take that back, is there something on my face?" She asked George.

"Actually yes. Two eyes. Both are green. A nose, and a mouth. Oh, and eyebrows. You have those, too." Noel continued frowning at George, crossing her arms over her chest again. "Well you asked!" Noel did ask, so she had that one coming. It was obvious her mother wasn't happy with her, but Noel couldn't figure out why. It wasn't because she was spending the rest of her summer holiday with the Weasleys, that was partly her idea! Noel also hadn't spent enough time at home to even get in trouble. Though thankfully, Molly spoke up.

"We should probably get going. It's a busy day!" Molly said as she stood up.

But Lynette had other plans. "Actually, if you could just wait right here. I'd like to talk to Noel. Alone."

Everyone's eyes were on Noel. _Oh wonderful. What did I do now?_ Noel stood up and followed her mother out to the corridor. The door closed swiftly behind them as the others just looked towards the two who just left in complete confusion.

He knew it wasn't polite, but he didn't care. George stood up and stepped closer to the door. He wanted to listen in, even if his mother was giving him a look of _Don't you dare do that, George Weasley_. But he did so anyways. There wasn't much he could make out, and he probably could've heard from where he had been sitting. Actually, the whole hospital could probably hear. Lynette was shouting at Noel, but he couldn't hear why exactly. Bryce looked incredibly uncomfortable, so did Alice. Everyone in the room did, but George began fuming. Ginny grabbed his wrist and begged him to sit down, even though she looked just as upset as George did.

"You need to stop being so frivolous! So childish! You can't just go about disrupting other people's lives!" Lynette shouted in the corridor. Noel wasn't sure how to retaliate. Her mother was furious about how much time she spent with the Weasleys. "You go and spend nearly every summer with them!" Most of the time it was her mother's idea, so Noel didn't know where this was coming from. The blonde wanted to cry but she knew that if she did, her mother would've won. "And here you think the Weasleys are your family, not us! What, were they the ones who encouraged you to want to play quidditch after you graduate? That you don't want to become a healer?"

Noel was taken aback. She hadn't even mentioned any of this to her mother. Nor did she think that any of the Weasleys talked to her own mother about her intentions of what she wanted to do after graduating. "How did you find out about quidditch?"

"Your father briefly mentioned.." Lynette began to explain but Noel raised her hand as if trying to get her mother to stop talking.

"I don't want to talk about this right now. And especially not here. Everyone's staring at us, mum!" Noel pleaded, trying to keep her voice down. Anyone that was in the vicinity could hear what was going on. And Noel was terribly embarrassed that everyone in the room she just vacated could probably hear as well. "I came here because Bryce asked me to. Not only is that your grandson in there, but he's my nephew. If anything, you should be embarrassed by your actions. And I'm sorry to do this to everyone in that room, but I'm leaving." Noel waved the hand she had raised and began walking back down the corridor.

When Lynette walked back into the room, without Noel, everyone looked up. "She ran off. I'm so sorry that she acted that way. It's really embarrassing." George looked like he wanted to rip someone's face off, Ginny had her hands balled up into fists and Molly Weasley stood up. "No. She shouldn't be embarrassed. You should be, Lynette."

Lynette did a double take and opened her mouth to speak but Molly cut her off. "All we could hear was you shouting at that poor girl. You want to know why she spends all of her holidays with us? Because you never have time for her. She's your daughter. You should want her to be happy." Molly shook, she was so angry. "I can't even right now, we're leaving before I regret saying anything." Molly took Ginny's hand and with George leading the way, they were out the door.

George was the first to take off after Noel. The blonde couldn't have gone too far, she may be quick but she also knew it wasn't wise to be alone in such a big city. Once the three Weasleys left the hospital, they stood on the sidewalk looking around for Noel. "Over there!" Ginny pointed to the park across the street. It was a fairly small park, just a bit of greenery and a small playset. Noel was there, sitting on one of the swings. Without thinking, George's legs began working on their own and he was off running towards the blonde.

She knew it wouldn't be long before they found her. It wasn't as if Noel was purposely hiding. She just wanted to get away from that place. Once she heard quick footsteps approaching her, she figured it was George. He'll probably tell her that it wasn't smart to run off, so will Mrs. Weasley, too. But the reprimanding never came. Instead she felt George wrap his arms around her shoulders from behind and just hold onto her tightly. They didn't say anything, they just stood there.

After a few minutes it was Molly who spoke up first. "Let's go." It was then that Noel turned to face George, Ginny and Molly. All three of them were smiling at her. Noel gave them a half smile when they all joined hands, they disapparated.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Molly had excused Noel from the cleaning duties she assigned them the previous night, but Noel helped anyways. Ron had asked Ginny for help with something, so that left just George and Noel alone in the study. It was the first time in a long time that they were finally alone and they were stuck cleaning.

"You okay?" George asked as he opened the door to the closet. Thankfully nothing came out. The redhead half expected a ghost to pop out. Or a horde of pixies. Again.

Noel was standing on a desk chair, dusting off the window coverings. "I've been better." She whispered in reply, but ended up nearly choking on all of the dust flying around the room.

George stopped what he was doing and wrapped his arms around the blonde's waist, pulling her off of the chair. "George?! What are you doing?" She wiggled in his grasp but soon enough he sat down on an arm chair and plopped her down on his lap. "What did she say? Your mother." George knew Noel didn't want to talk, but the sooner she did, the better she would feel.

Noel sat in George's lap and fiddled with her hands in her lap. She avoided his gaze but he wasn't having any of it. His hand gently cupped her cheek, turning her to face him. Here he was, the most perfect guy to Noel and she was just sitting there like an idiot, not saying anything. She was damn lucky to have him. "I guess she found out I want to play quidditch after school." The blonde shrugged, causing a few curls to fall down her shoulders. "And that I disrupt your life." Noel whispered the last part. "Oh look what time it is. I need to go feed the hog." She looked down at her bare wrist, pretending she had a watch on. Noel attempted to vacate George's lap but he kept his arms wrapped firmly around her, pulling her back against him.

"First of all, the only hog nearby is Ron and he doesn't need to be fed. Second, I want you to do whatever will make you happy. If you want to play quidditch when we graduate, that's what I want you to do. Play quidditch. Become a clown. Bake pies. Whatever you want, I'll support you. And third, you know we love having you around. Mum sees you as another daughter and Ginny sees you as the big sister she never had. And most importantly, I love having you around the most." George rested his forehead against Noel's. She desperately wanted to close her eyes, but she couldn't tear herself away from those big brown eyes gazing into her tired green ones. "I know." She whispered in response.

"It's just, this is what she does. My mum tries to sabotage everything in my life. She gets into my head, makes me think everyone hates me." And it had to stop. Or Noel just needed to block it out. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's your mum who should be sorry. She should want you to be happy. But thankfully you have an amazing boyfriend. With a large, crazy family who love you just the same." George said, bouncing the blonde on his knees slightly.

The two inched closer together, and just as Noel was about to whisper, _I love you, George Weasley_, fate decided it had other plans.

Fred ran by the open door to the study and saw the compromising position his twin brother and girlfriend were in. Grinning, he shouted, "Merlin's beard! George and Noel are making babies up here! I can't wait to be an uncle!"

Noel and George slowly turned to Fred, who was still standing in the doorway. "Excuse me, but I'm going to severely maim Fred." Noel kissed George on the lips before scrambling off of his lap. "Fred Fabian Weasley, get back here!" The blonde shouted as Fred took off up the stairs. The sounds of stomping and someone falling down could be heard all throughout the house, causing everyone to poke their heads out of their doors trying to figure out what was going on.

Ginny heard the commotion and stood out in the corridor. "Do I want to know?" She turned to George.

"No. You don't." George shook his head. "Maybe I better go save him."

"Ouch! Hey! That hurts! What the! Don't braid my hair!" Fred shouted from upstairs.

Ginny and George looked at one another again. "On second thought, nah. Fred'll be fine."

* * *

**Author's Note: Wow, I can't believe there's another chapter up! I went months last year without updating and I feel like now everyone's getting spoiled with my countless updates! This is what happens when you're not working 80+ hours a week and 130 in an entire pay period. As of right now, I'm going to try and update once or twice a week until my job gets into full swing, then we'll see how everything goes. :D Thank you for reading! And the review, michness~ Now I need to go bolt my house into the ground because this wind is absolutely ridiculous! Also don't forget to read and review!**


	4. The Last Summer Break

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter universe, JK Rowling does! I do however own Noel Honeybourne and random OCs that will appear in this chapter and future chapters. **

**Seventeen's Vow is the second in my series of stories about George Weasley and Noel Honeybourne. The first in the series, Becoming an Adult is Difficult!, can be found in my list of stories and I highly encourage you to read that before starting on this one. It isn't absolutely necessary, but it'll clear up lots of confusion if you read it. This story will begin during the summer of George and Noel's seventh and final year at Hogwarts, and will end once Noel graduates. So please, enjoy the story! And don't forget to read and review!**

**Seventeen's Vow**

**Chapter Four - "The Last Summer Break"**

As the weeks went by, everyone grew restless. Especially Harry Potter. He had been incredibly agitated right before his hearing at the ministry and for good reason. Arthur was the only one allowed to go with him, so when they returned later that evening with the good news that Harry was cleared of all charges, they wanted to hear exactly what happened. Though it was incredibly hard to hear when George, Fred and Ginny paraded around the downstairs chanting, "He got off! He got off!" Molly eventually got the trio to quiet down long enough for Harry to talk.

The chanting started up again and now involved a fairly choreographed dance led by Fred, well, Molly had finally had enough. "That's enough! Fred! George! Ginny!" Molly shouted and the three of them immediately stopped. Molly nodded in approval and led Harry into the kitchen, while Ron and Hermione followed closely behind.

Noel sat in the living room, still reading _The Apple Murder Case _and looked up from her book. "You three done your little dance routine now?" The blonde asked.

Fred, George and Ginny all looked at one another, nodding their heads. "He got off! He got off! He got off!" The dancing had started up once again.

"Your mum is going to kill you three. Or make you do Ron's laundry." Noel said, closing the book now because it was clear she wasn't going to get anymore reading done.

"He got off! He got off!"

"SHUT UP!" Molly roared from the kitchen.

"You did it now." Noel said, opening her book back up. At least it finally got quiet after that.

* * *

The last few weeks of summer, they continued to spend the majority of their free time cleaning the house up. It was looking less and less grimy and dusty with each passing day, but that wasn't saying very much. And while living in the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix may seem glamorous, it was getting incredibly boring.

Though Noel was of age, as were the twins, they weren't even allowed to know anything that was going on. It was frustrating, though she understood to a point. When she graduates from Hogwarts, Noel decided she was joining the Order and she didn't care who opposed of it. She could tell by the way George and Fred acted that they felt the same way she did. They would all be eighteen soon enough, they could do whatever they wanted with their lives.

When the final day of summer holiday arrived, Noel and Ron were cleaning up in the kitchen after lunch when they were greeted by an owl at the window. The pair looked at one another and Noel detached all of the envelopes it was carrying. "Poor thing, there's so many of us here and what exactly is in half of these things?" Noel held the batch of envelopes and shook her head. "Well, I guess we should take these upstairs?" The blonde asked Ron and he nodded, taking half of the stack and led Noel out of the kitchen.

The first occupied room they came across was the one Ron shared with Harry. "Book lists have just arrived." Ron said as Harry looked up from his cleaning of Hedwig's droppings. Noel opened hers and found the usual letter stating that school started on September 1st, and the other was what supplies they needed for that year.

Noel's green eyes scanned her list and she sighed. _A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration_, didn't need that book since she needed to purchase it for last school year. _Advanced Potion-Making_, she also had that one as well from the previous year. No new books for Herbology or Charms. "_Defensive Magical Theory _by Wilbert Slinkhard?" Noel read aloud, it seemed that Ron and Harry also were required to get the same book.

Yet another Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Wonder what'll happen to this one.

George and Fred apparated right beside Harry, causing Noel to look up from her list. "Who assigned the Slinkhard book?" Fred asked, walking over to Noel's side as George stood on her other side. They both took their letters and read them over. "It just means we've got ourselves a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor." George responded.

"Hooray." Noel pretended to be thrilled.

"About time, too." Fred said.

Harry looked up in question and raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Apparently Dumbledore was having a really difficult time finding anyone to do the job this year." Fred explained.

Noel nodded, she didn't blame any of them, either. "Not really that surprising, when you remember what's happened to the last four." George said.

"One resigned, one dead, one gone mental, and the other locked in a trunk for nine months." Harry said as he counted out all four on his right hand. "That makes sense."

Someone was being awfully quiet. Noel looked over to Ron and saw him gaping at his letter. "Ron?" Noel walked over to the youngest Weasley in the room and gently shook his shoulder. "What's wrong?" The blonde asked. Fred was growing impatient as well, he walked behind Ron and peered over his shoulder at the letter. "What the bloody hell? Prefect?!" Fred's mouth fell open as well.

Noel stepped back as she saw George move out of the corner of her eye. He reached forward and snatched the envelope out of his younger brother's hands but as he did so, something gold and scarlet fell into the palm of his hand. "There's no way.." George whispered.

"No, there must be a mistake." Fred grabbed the letter out of Ron's hand, twisting and turning it in all sorts of ways to make sure it was legitimate. "They must be out of their minds, making Ron a prefect."

As if they could read one another's minds, Noel, George and Fred all turned to Harry. "I thought it would've been you!" Noel said, pointing to the dark haired boy.

Fred looked to George. "She took the words right out of my mouth. She's been around us way too long."

"Guess he's caused too much trouble." Fred said.

George nodded, "Well, at least one of you've got your priorities straight." He said as he walked over to Harry and patted him on the back, giving Ron a look at the same time.

"Our ickle Ronnie is a prefect! Oh mum will love it. She'll be absolutely revolting." Fred said.

Noel still couldn't believe it, but then again, she thought she would've been made prefect in their fifth year. But that didn't happen. "I need to go pack." Noel spoke up, folding up her list and letter and stuffing it back into her envelope. "Good job, Ron." She patted his back and walked out of the bedroom.

George looked at Noel as she left and frowned. But teasing Ron was too much fun at the moment, he'd give his girlfriend some space for now.

They continued to tease Ron about getting prefect until Hermione showed up, also revealing she received prefect. "Oh, it seems that our rule breaking days are over, Fred." George said, pretending to be scared. "With these two around, we're doomed." Fred finished George's thought.

And they were right, when Molly wandered into the room to retrieve everyone's school lists, she went berserk over Ron getting prefect. "That makes everyone in the family!" She gushed, pulling Ron in for a tight hug.

George and Fred looked at each other, scowling. "What are Fred and I? Next-door neighbours?" George said, crossing his arms over his chest.

* * *

Noel had no clue how she managed to accumulate so much stuff. Despite normally being a relatively neat person, she had let the room she shared with Ginny and Hermione get so messy. And since they would be heading back to Hogwarts the next day, the blonde had no other choice but to pack today. Hermione had already finished her packing, and Ginny said she'd finish hers after dinner. Noel sighed as she opened up her trunk and began folding everything up. Too many clothes, too many shoes, too much of everything. But not enough quills and parchment, Noel never seemed to have enough of those things. They were like socks in the dryer, they always went missing.

It was times like this when Noel was glad she didn't have an animal to take care of. Her father did ask her if she wanted an owl for her birthday one year, but she declined. And Noel never wanted a cat because Bryce had one, oddly enough named Pickles by a five year old Noel. Maybe after leaving Hogwarts she'll think about getting a pet. And naming it Pickles. Because it was the perfect name, naturally.

Wandering around her room, Noel managed to finish her packing shortly after. Everything was packed away, the only bit she had left out was what she needed for tomorrow. After checking the time, she saw that there was plenty of time left before dinner for a bit of a nap. It was rare when she did nap, but Noel had been feeling so tired lately, especially after the fight she had with her mother. It still irked her, that her mother was so furious about how much time she'd spent with the Weasleys. Noel didn't start visiting the other family until the summer after her second year, when the twins begged and pleaded with Molly to let their new friend come visit. Molly had agreed because Chudley wasn't too terribly far from Ottery St. Catchpole. But ever since that year, Noel had visited the Weasley household more than once during each summer holiday. It wasn't until her grandmum got sick when Noel was 14 that she had spent extended periods of time at the Burrow. Bryce had moved out, and Noel's parents were constantly busy. Molly wasn't fond of leaving a 14 year old girl all alone for months on end. And Noel had never gone to the Burrow for Christmas. She almost didn't go home last Christmas because she was told it wasn't wise, but she did so anyways.

_I'll do whatever I want with my life, thank you very much_. Noel thought to herself as she sat down on her bed. She could at least nap here and not get yelled at for it. It was as soon as Noel's head hit her pillow that she fell asleep.

* * *

After Molly arrived with everyone's schoolbooks, she had asked George if he could take the only book Noel needed up to her room. He happily obliged, since Molly didn't realize that he'd finally get some alone time with his girlfriend. Of course it was the day before they went back to school, but George would take it. He climbed the stairs and didn't even have to knock on the door. The door was open, and revealed just Noel in the room. A Noel that was fast asleep on her bed.

George had rarely seen Noel sleep, sometimes he thought she was a robot. But that one time, during their fourth year, that everyone had to sleep in the Great Hall the night Sirius Black got into the castle. It was right after George began getting feelings for his friend, and Fred was the only one who knew about it. When they got to the Great Hall, with those plush purple sleeping bags in hand, that Fred had suggested that Noel sleep in-between himself and George. "Just in case Sirius Black decides to come in and murder us all in our sleep. We'll protect you." Noel rolled her eyes at Fred but did however plop her sleeping bag down between the twins. "Fine but, that just means Sirius can eat you first. And you'll give him indigestion. Or heartburn." Noel said.

It was that night that after Noel had fallen asleep, George rested on his side and just watched her. He wasn't trying to be creepy, it wasn't like he'd be able to sleep with so many people around anyways. It was the first time he got that feeling in the pit of his stomach, that just maybe, he wanted to fall asleep next to her every night and wake up and see her face in the morning. If he told Fred that, he'd just laugh at him and say he was just crazy. But this was different, Noel was different. There was just something about her that had George constantly coming back. She didn't beg for attention like other girls. She didn't pretend to be all prim and proper, she'd give Fred and Ron a run for their money if they ever held a belching contest. But she'd be respectful to any adult she came across. And she could play quidditch with the best of them, and not worry if her hair got messed up. Noel had always accepted that her hair was a floppy mop of curls, and it didn't bother her. Those were just some of the things that George loved about her.

Noel's soft snore brought George back to reality. He gently sat down at the edge of her bed and smiled. She looked so peaceful now, just like she did that night they slept in the Great Hall. She also looked less violent as she slept, which was good for Fred, she can't punch him on the arm if she was sleeping. George also noted that Noel slept like she was trying to keep a bunch of people out of her bed. Sprawled out, one arm dangling over the side and the other underneath her stomach. So she slept like Fred, then.

"I love you, George." Noel mumbled against her pillow.

George blinked, looking down at the sleeping blonde. Now he could be hearing things, after all half of Noel's face was smashed against her pillow. She could've said anything. But it gave him an idea, he'd done this to Fred once, and they'd done it to Ron countless times. He was going to try and have a conversation with her as she slept. "You what?" He spoke quietly.

Noel rustled in her sleep. "Love you." She said as she latched onto her pillow this time.

"Who do you love?" George asked, he was having too much fun with this.

"Some git named George Weasley." Noel said, opening her eyes. She'd only woken up when George sat down on the edge of her bed. She was a fairly light sleeper, so when she felt her bed move, she woke up. "It's not how I wanted to tell you exactly. But since we were so rudely cut off earlier." Noel indicated what happened before with Fred shouting that they were upstairs making babies.

Maybe Noel was really still asleep, because George sat in the same spot, not saying anything. Noel sat up on the bed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Nope, definitely not sleeping. And George still wasn't saying anything. She mentally scolded herself for even saying I love you, now George was probably freaking out. Sighing, she managed to scramble out of the bed, climbing over top of George and walk towards the door.

"Wait." George said, catching up to Noel before she reached the door. Noel turned around, her hand was around the doorknob. Now George was mad at her. The blonde bit her bottom lip as George stopped right in front of her. "You really love me?" He asked her.

_Yes yes yes!_ Was what Noel wanted to say while jumping up and down like a little kid who just had too much sugar. But that really would scare George away. "Yes." She said quietly. But she spoke again, as if trying to explain herself. "It's just you're so wonderful and you and your family have been there for me so much lately. And with everything going on, I'm just so happy to have you in my life." Noel said, leaning against the doorframe. Here comes the part when George is going to freak out and say everything was moving way too fast. Though Noel didn't think ten months together was too quick. This was by far the longest relationship the blonde had ever been in and she was sure it was George's longest relationship, too.

Except that never happened. George didn't freak out. Though he never said anything. Instead he placed his hand atop of Noel's on the doorknob, closing the door behind them. Once the door was finally closed, he gently held the blonde's face in his hands. Noel could feel her heart pounding in her chest. At this point it would probably burst out of her chest at any given moment. Noel held onto George's arms and looked into his eyes, searching for any type of answer. _Please, say something. Anything._

"I love you, too." George whispered before pulling Noel in for a passionate kiss.

The pair maneuvered themselves towards the blonde's bed before toppling down on it. They were risking everything if they'd get caught, and with seven other people in the house at the moment, it could easily happen. But for the first time in a month and a half, George and Noel finally got their private moment. And no one managed to interrupt them for once.

* * *

That night before they were to leave for Hogwarts was the first night Noel got a good night's sleep since the fight she had with her mother. And when she woke up the morning they were supposed to leave, the blonde had the biggest smile on her face. That smile stayed on her face when she said goodbye to Mrs. Weasley as they went to board the Hogwarts Express later that morning. "Thank you so much for everything this summer, Mrs. Weasley." Noel said as Molly gave the petite girl a tight hug.

"Anything for you, dear." They broke apart but before Noel could shift away, Molly put her hands on Noel's shoulders. "Now if you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask me or Arthur. I know things are difficult right now, but even if your parents are too busy, we're here for you." Noel smiled, she eventually heard about what happened at St. Mungo's after she took off and she was eternally grateful for what Molly had done for her. Especially over the years.

Noel nodded and smiled. "We'll see what happens."

Molly patted the blonde's shoulder before letting go of her. "And you're more than welcome to spend the Christmas holiday with us. I know George would love having you around as well." She smiled, looking behind Noel to see Fred and George talking with Jessamy and Anna, who met up with them a few minutes earlier. "I'd like that. But I'll let you know closer to Christmas. Thank you again, Mrs. Weasley."

"Please, call me Molly." Molly said waving Noel on to her friends as she went to say goodbye to both Ron and Ginny before they boarded the train.

Noel wandered over to her group of friends and adjusted the backpack on her shoulder. "Are we ready?" She asked.

"Ugh, finally." Fred said when he saw that Noel had popped up. "We thought you got Molly-vortexed." Noel turned her head and rolled her eyes at Fred, proceeding to give him a look that said _I will not hesitate to punch you_. He immediately shut up and turned to face the train. "Oh look at the time, we better get going!"

Jessamy laughed and with her hand holding onto Anna's, they boarded the train after Fred. George turned to Noel and smiled, still remembering what happened between them the afternoon before. "Remind me to learn your technique. I can't even get Fred to shut up."

Noel smiled and stepped onto the train. "Let's go, before Anna and Jessamy gang up on your poor brother."

The train ride was rather uneventful, nothing special happened. Jessamy was a bit sad to see Anna sit in another compartment full of first years rather than sit with her big sister. But at the same time, she was proud of her younger sibling. "She's growing up!" Jessamy sniffled as she waved to her little sister from down the compartment. Naturally, Fred and George mimicked her and Jessamy kicked Fred's shin while George hid behind Noel. "You can't hit me." George said as Noel sighed and sat down, no longer blocking George from the brunette. "Yes, because a gigantor like you is easily hidden by tiny ol' me."

"Ah yes, but I'm your gigantor, so don't you forget it." George grinned, kissing Noel's cheek.

"Ugh, seriously! You two need to get a room!" Both Fred and Jessamy shouted as the train rolled on.

When they arrived to Hogwarts finally, Noel was just looking forward to the feast. She was absolutely famished and could probably eat everything set out in front of her. And she was looking forward to the sorting ceremony, seeing how it was Anna's first year. As long as she didn't end up in Slytherin, any house was fine by her. Except Jessamy said, "Just no Slytherin or Hufflepuff. She could easily end up in Ravenclaw. She's a smart cookie."

"How can a cookie be smart?" Fred asked, narrowly avoiding the fork Jessamy threw at him.

The first years were finally led into the Great Hall by Professor McGonagall, Noel was able to see Anna somewhere in the middle of the group. When Professor McGonagall set the stool down with the Sorting Hat on top of it, the hat began to sing yet another song.

_The warning history shows,_

_For our Hogwarts is in danger_

_From external, deadly foes_

_And we must unite inside her_

_Or we'll crumble from within_

_I have told you, I have warned you,_

_Let the Sorting now begin_.

Well, that was odd. In the now seven years Noel had been attending Hogwarts, she didn't remember the Sorting Hat ever giving out any warnings. It usually just described the different qualities from each of the four houses and how the hat usually sorts them. Harry, Ron and Hermione had been whispering about something, along with a few other students. Though this displeased McGonagall because she did one quick glaring sweep of each house table and began calling names of the first years.

"Abercrombie, Euan." Professor McGonagall called, and that was the point Noel stopped paying attention. She rarely paid any attention during sortings, she didn't really feel any need to. She was the youngest in her family, and she had no cousins or other relatives that attended Hogwarts anymore. Except this year was different, Anna was here now and while they weren't blood related, she still considered Anna to be her little sister. Jessamy even said the same thing about Noel, they considered themselves to be as close as sisters. Jessamy was the closest thing Noel had to a sister while they were growing up.

"Hollingberry, Anna." Professor McGonagall called and immediately caught Noel's attention. Anna emerged from between two taller boys and climbed up onto the stool. The Sorting Hat had been pondering, but it didn't take too long for it to make up it's mind. "Gryffindor!" It shouted before Anna could hop off the stool and join everyone at the Gryffindor table.

Jessamy clapped the loudest, watching as her little sister sat with the other Gryffindor first years at the front of the table. Noel did her fair share of clapping, but she heard Fred whisper to George, "Uh oh, two Hollingberrys in the same house. We're definitely screwed." Which made Noel smile, because she knew the twins would secretly look out for Anna. Because if they didn't, they'd have to deal with a very angry older sister. It would just be nice having Anna around, she never got to spend as much time with her as she has with Jessamy.

When the Sorting finished, Dumbledore got to his feet. "To our new students, welcome! To our old students, welcome back! There is a time for speech making, but now is not one of those times. We're all hungry, so, tuck in!" When the food finally appeared, everyone seemed to get excited. There were countless pies, and dishes with vegetables, breads, sauces and pumpkin juice galore. Anything you could think of, it was there. This was one of Noel's favorite things about Hogwarts, the food and the beginning of term feast. At one point Noel even reached over and took part of George's treacle tart. "Hey!" He protested, but all Noel did was grin.

When everyone had finished eating and the noise in the Great Hall dwindled, Dumbledore stood back up to give his usual start of term speech. "Now that we're all stuffed, I'd like to have your attention for a few start-of-term notices. First years ought to know that the forest on the grounds is out of bounds to all students, and I must remind a few older students of that as well." Naturally. Noel laughed softly, nearly everyone has broken that rule at one point or another. "Mr. Filch would like me to remind you once again to not use magic between classes and a number of other things that will be posted on the door to his office." Which no one was going to read, of course. "And we have two new changes to our staffing this year." Dumbledore went on to explain how Professor Grubbly-Plank was taking over for Hagrid in Care of Magical Creatures. And they had yet another new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. When Dumbledore pointed her out, Noel craned her neck over George's shoulder to catch a glimpse of the woman. Short, stout, and wearing way too much pink. "I don't wear that much pink, do I?" Noel asked George and he shook his head.

"Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will be taking place on the -" Dumbledore was cut off by the new DADA professor, Dolores Umbridge. She had risen to her feet and seemed intent on making a speech of her own. Noel raised her eyebrows, no new professor had ever interrupted Dumbledore's speech before. And just by the looks of this woman, Noel knew she wasn't fond of her already. Too much pink. The blonde shuddered as Umbridge began to speak.

"Thank you, Headmaster. For those kind words of welcome."

"Kind words my ass." Noel whispered to George, causing him to snort.

Umbridge began to speak again. "I'm looking forward to getting to know each and every one of you. And I'm sure we're all going to become very good friends!" Noel wanted to gag. Fred leaned over George so he could whisper to him and Noel. "Yeah, friends, right. Want to borrow her cardigan? You two seem to share the same liking for the color pink!"

Then Umbridge rambled on about how the Ministry considered their education to be important. Talking on and on, and when Noel looked to the staff table, she saw most of the professors looked unimpressed, or that they'd like to hurl a plate at Umbridge's head. Noel shared their sentiments. Noel desperately wanted to tune Umbridge's speech out, but she couldn't. The words coming out of her mouth seemed like complete bull to her. When Umbridge finally stopped talking and sat back down, the blonde didn't even bother to clap.

"What a load of crap." Fred said while people were unenthusiastically clapping. "Why'd we have to get this loon for our final year?"

"I don't know, but I'm seriously considering burning every pink piece of clothing I own." Noel rolled her eyes.

George grinned, catching Fred's eye. "Something tells me my brother would enjoy that too much. And the thought makes me want to vomit." Fred shuddered, pretending to be absolutely revolted.

"Come on now, I'd still have my uniform.." Noel started to say, causing George to grin even wider. "Even better!" He said triumphantly as Fred made gagging noises next to him.

It was then that Noel heard the tail end of Hermione, Ron and Harry's conversation. "This just means that the Ministry's interfering at Hogwarts." The blonde heard Hermione say.

It made sense, that must be why they sent Professor Umbridge, more like Professor Pink, to Hogwarts this year.

When Dumbledore dismissed everyone to head to their dormitories for the evening, Noel stood up and turned to the twins and Jessamy. "Something tells me this year is going to be positively glorious." She sighed, stretching her arms over her head. The four of them began walking out of the Great Hall, after the Prefects took the first years out before everyone else.

"Oh, is it too late to transfer to Beauxbatons?" Fred asked seriously.

George looked at his brother and laughed. "You just wish you could transfer there. And yes, it's too late."

Noel and Jessamy linked arms and turned away from the boys. "Something tells me Fred just wants to wear the Beauxbatons uniform!"

"And the hat!" George added as the four climbed the stairwells towards the Gryffindor Common Room. It was only then that Noel remembered she would never be attending a start-of-term feast ever again. That was her very last one.

* * *

**Author's Note: This took a bit longer to write, but here it is! I hope everyone enjoyed it, and I'll have Chapter 5 up sometime next week. Thank you for the reviews again, michness and fantasyluver714!**


	5. The Thunder of 1978

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter universe, JK Rowling does! I do however own Noel Honeybourne and random OCs that will appear in this chapter and future chapters. **

**Seventeen's Vow is the second in my series of stories about George Weasley and Noel Honeybourne. The first in the series, Becoming an Adult is Difficult!, can be found in my list of stories and I highly encourage you to read that before starting on this one. It isn't absolutely necessary, but it'll clear up lots of confusion if you read it. This story will begin during the summer of George and Noel's seventh and final year at Hogwarts, and will end once Noel graduates. So please, enjoy the story! And don't forget to read and review!**

**Seventeen's Vow**

**Chapter Five - "The Thunder of 1978"**

The first few days of classes went well for the beginning of the new term. Of the six NEWT level classes Noel took during her sixth year, she decided to continue in just five of them. She saw no point in continuing with History of Magic, because what would she do with that? Besides catch up on some extra sleep. Noel almost gave up on Potions, but she had done better than she thought she would've last year, so she decided to stick with it. The thought constantly lingered in the back of her mind that she still had no exact clue what to do with the rest of her life. But as long as she continued to study, then hopefully there would be some sort of backup plan.

But the one thing Noel Honeybourne wasn't looking forward to was her first Defense Against the Dark Arts class of the new term. She had heard all kinds of stories from other students in other years about their experiences with the new DADA professor, and from what she heard it didn't sound pleasant. If she can survive seven years of Potions with Professor Snape, she could survive this.

"If she has pink on again today, I'm going to vomit." Jessamy groaned as she walked into the DADA classroom with George, Fred and Noel in tow.

Fred sat down at his usual desk, George sitting behind him. "Actually, I vote you vomit on Umbridge." Noel said as she sat down at the desk behind George. "We can clearly make this happen. Let us all remember the Puking Pastille incident of 1993 in Charms.." George said.

Jessamy rolled her eyes and sat down at her desk. "Let's not, because Flitwick still steers clear of me. Constantly makes me sit in the back of the room." Only because Fred slipped her a Puking Pastille right before a big Charms exam and she lost her breakfast all over their poor professor.

"Hem-hem." Came a shrill voice at the front of the classroom.

Umbridge had finally arrived and as everyone could've guessed, she was decked out in that horrific pink cardigan again. Noel set her bag down on the floor next to her desk and peered forward. Umbridge was incredibly short, even shorter than Noel was. She was a bit squat, and almost reminded Noel of a toad. A toad in a pink cardigan. It was like Umbridge didn't have a neck, her face was broad and her mouth was wide. When Umbridge held up her wand, they saw that even that was also short. "Good morning, class." She spoke in a high-pitched, almost breathless voice.

Her voice was going to make Noel want to rip her ears off.

Nobody in the room bid Umbridge a good morning, so she spoke up once more. "Good morning, class."

A few students mumbled good morning in response, if only to get her to not ask it once again. "Wonderful!" She squeaked out, setting her wand down on her desk. "Now, first off, all of you shall put your wands away."

Quiet murmurs were heard throughout the classroom, and most everyone still had their wands out in front of them, Noel included. "I said, wands away!" Umbridge shrieked.

Everyone in the classroom looked at their neighbours, and they slowly hid their wands out of sight. This seemed to please Umbridge, with that sly smile appearing on her toad-like face. "Excellent." Umbridge began walking up the aisles of desks at this point. "You will not be needing your wands today for class. Or any other time you have class with me."

What the hell was this dingbat talking about?

"I'm here to teach you children how to defend yourself from the Dark Arts in a safe, risk-free environment. You simply don't need your wands to defend yourselves. There are far better ways to do so." Umbridge stopped in the middle of an aisle, looking at each student around her.

Learning how to defend yourself in a safe, risk-free environment? Basically in a way that will get yourself killed? A few students began whispering once more, causing Umbridge to bend forward and smack her hand on the desk nearest to her, belonging to an unsuspecting boy from Hufflepuff. "You will quiet down! This is my classroom and I will not have you disrupting it!" She shouted once more.

"Someone needs to get laid." Noel heard Jessamy whisper behind her. She desperately wanted to laugh, but if she did, Umbridge would probably have an aneurism.

"Excuse me, what did you say Miss? Miss what's your name?" Umbridge glowered in Jessamy's direction. Good one, Jessamy. Go and piss off the old toad within the first five minutes of class.

Few turned in Jessamy's direction, Umbridge's cold eyes seemed like they were trying to bore into the brunette's soul. "Jessamy Hollingberry. Actually, I'm just so giddy with excitement on how you'll be teaching us to defend ourselves. Without magic." Noel was trying very hard not to laugh, but the smile was creeping up onto her face.

"Excuse me?" Umbridge asked, her arms crossing over her chest as she began walking down the aisle towards Jessamy's desk.

Jessamy opened her mouth to speak but Noel's hand shot up in the air. Umbridge blinked and turned to the blonde. "Yes, Miss?"

"Honeybourne. I think what she's trying to say is, how exactly are we supposed to defend ourselves?" The blonde spoke up. Now everyone was looking towards them. George had a look mixed with amusement and worry on his face, while Fred merely gave the two girls a thumbs up from behind where Umbridge was standing.

For the first time during that class, Umbridge didn't even yell. She just smiled and turned to the blackboard. A message began to appear with the flick of Umbridge's wand. "Now please, as I speak, write everything down." Umbridge had completely evaded the question on how to defend oneself.

You could almost hear the displeasure roaming around the room as each student got our their quills. "Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic." Umbridge paused, watching as everyone began taking notes. "Learning to recognize situations in which defensive magic can be legally used." Honestly, Noel wasn't even sure why she bothered writing any of this down. "And lastly, placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use." Noel didn't even bother writing the last bit down. There was a bit of dirt under her one fingernail that demanded attention and seemed far more interesting than this class.

It was a bit ridiculous. This was a seventh year Defense Against the Dark Arts class. And honestly, they were probably the lucky ones. They had the majority of the course under their belts at this point, but with this being their final year at Hogwarts, they thought they would be learning other things. Like how to really defend themselves if the situation called for it. And if what Harry Potter says is true, which Noel believed, then a war was coming. Voldemort was back, and this pink toad wasn't going to teach them how to properly defend themselves?

"Hem-hem." Umbridge's voice was beginning to make Noel cringe in disgust. "Now, did everyone manage to pick up a copy of _Defensive Magical Theory _by Wilbert Slinkhard?" The class only mumbled in response.

Umbridge shook her head, walking back to stand in front of her desk once more. "That's not good enough. Let's try again, when I ask you a question, I want you to respond with, 'Yes, Professor Umbridge,' or 'No, Professor Umbridge.' Now, again, did everyone pick up a copy of _Defensive Magical Theory_ by Wilbert Slinkhard?" Umbridge's eyes wandered the room, waiting for her answer.

"Yes, Professor Umbridge." The class rang out in dull unison. Noel could've sworn she heard someone even add a '_sir_' after Umbridge.

Umbridge didn't catch it obviously and smiled in approval. "Better, that wasn't so hard was it? Now, turn to page five and begin reading chapter one. There will be absolutely no need for talking." She nodded and turned around to sit back down at her desk. She sat back at her desk and watched as everyone opened their books and began reading. Noel looked up and glared at Umbridge before opening her own book. She couldn't concentrate, Noel felt like she read the same line on the same page countless times. She looked around the room and hadn't once seen anyone turn a page. George sat in front of the blonde, his chin resting on the palm of his hand. His book was open, but he hadn't moved an inch in the last few minutes. Noel couldn't see Fred, since George was blocking him. Nor could she see Jessamy, who sat behind her.

It was then that Evelyn Walker, one of Noel's friends since their first year at Hogwarts, raised her hand in the air.

"Yes, Miss?" Umbridge asked in her sickeningly sweet voice.

"Evelyn Walker." The dark hair girl responded. "I was just wondering but, isn't the whole point of this class to practice defensive spells?"

Umbridge shook her head and wagged a finger in Evie's direction. "Now, dear, wizards that are much older and much wiser than all of you in this room have devised this program for you to study. Here you will be learning about defensive spells in a secure way. There's no need for you to practice spells in my classroom. You won't be attacked in my classroom." The toad woman said in her falsely sweet voice.

"But our N.E.W.T. exams are coming up. Isn't there a practical portion of our exam for this class?" Evie countered. This clearly displeased Umbridge, you could tell by just the way she spoke. "Yes, but you will be monitored during the exam, there's no reason for you to be afraid. You'll perform the spells under strict guidelines and -"

"So what you're saying is the first and only time we can perform a spell for our exam is on the day of the actual exam?" Evie said, not even bothering to raise her hand, just choosing to interrupt Umbridge like she did Dumbledore the other day.

Umbridge shook her head. "You should feel no need to practice defensive spells."

This was getting ridiculous. She'd probably regret it, but Noel interjected. "So you're saying that once we graduate next year we're not going to need to defend ourselves from anything?" Noel obviously didn't even bother to raise her hand.

Umbridge turned to the blonde and smiled. "Why would you ever need to do that, Miss Honeybourne?"

At this point, George had turned to face Noel. "So what you're saying is that we have nothing to worry about in the real world? That everything's all sunshine and glitter rainbows and gravy on potatoes?" Jessamy interrupted.

Umbridge glowered at the three girls. "Thirty points from Gryffindor. And the three of you," She pointed to Evie, Noel and Jessamy before continuing. "Detention. Tomorrow afternoon."

Fred gave all three girls another thumbs up, while George grinned. This wasn't Noel's first detention, and she doubted that it'd be her last. Especially while Umbridge was around.

When class was finally over, Noel gathered her things and quickly headed out the door. She didn't want to be in that room any longer than necessary. Soon enough, Jessamy, Fred, George and Evie followed suit. "What's this? My girlfriend manages to get a detention before her incredibly amazing boyfriend does?" George said, nudging Noel's shoulder as the group wandered down the corridor to the Great Hall for lunch. Noel was just glad that she had the afternoon free, so she didn't have to worry about fuming in yet another class.

"George, I think this just proves that she's been around us way too long." Fred said, appearing at Noel's other side. "I'd say we've created a sassy monster but that's Hollingberry." George grinned.

Evie shrugged her shoulders, clutching the book held in her arms. "Well, I don't regret any of it." Jessamy and Noel agreed. "Oh well. I mean, detention with the Toad can't be too bad, can it?" Noel asked.

"Perhaps she'll make us knit fluffy pink jumpers. Then wear them. Parade them around the school." Jessamy put her hand to her chin in thought.

"Bake a pie or two."

"While knitting fluffy pink jumpers."

"While balancing a stack of books on your head."

"Oh, dear George. I think we're going to miss out on all the fun." Fred frowned as they entered the Great Hall.

George sighed, raising his right hand in the air. "I think we should have a manly night. We can braid each other's hair."

"And gossip."

"And have a pillow fight."

"Is that all you think we do?" Noel laughed as she sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"Not really. You guys sit around and put makeup on each other, right?" Fred asked, plopping down on the bench to Noel's left.

"Absolutely. Then we gossip about how stupid you are." Jessamy laughed from the other side of the table. "Just about you, Fred. Not George. Noel just talks about George in her sleep."

Noel felt the heat rise to her cheeks and tried to avoid everyone's eyes on her. "I have no idea what you're talking about." The blonde said before quickly stuffing her face with chicken.

"So," George started to speak, turning towards Jessamy. "What does she say about me?"

* * *

Noel didn't have time to go back to the Gryffindor Common Room after her Transfiguration class the next day. She was going to be late for her afternoon detention with Umbridge, and she had the feeling that if she were late, that would just pile on another detention. She met up with Evie and Jessamy down by the Divination classroom, which is where they had just come from. "Ready for this?" Jessamy asked as they wandered down the corridor, turning left into yet another corridor.

"Eh, not really. But let's just get this over with." Noel said as they turned and stopped at the door to Umbridge's classroom. She told the trio to meet her in the Defense classroom at exactly 4:30. It was now 4:29. "Think she'd kill us if we're a whole minute early?" Evie asked as they stood in front of the classroom door.

"Probably. But let's see anyways." Jessamy spoke before twisting the handle on the classroom door and opening it. The classroom was empty, and the trio thought they would have a chance to sit down before Umbridge appeared. But they were wrong. "I've been waiting for you three. Come. Sit down here." Umbridge said in her obnoxiously shrill voice, pointing to three desks at the front of the classroom that had sheets of parchment on them. The three girls looked at one another and sat down where they were told.

Umbridge stood in front of the three desks and smiled. She was wearing the same outfit she had on during class the previous day, with that fluffy pink cardigan. The woman really looked like a stumpy toad in a pink jumper. Except today she had this black velvet bow secured into her hair. What is it with people and bows? First Jessamy, now Umbridge? "Today I will be having you write some lines for me." Noel reached into her backpack for her quill, the one quill that hasn't disappeared yet and sat up. Writing lines didn't seem too terrible, they could've been doing something much worse.

"Oh no, girls. You won't be needing your quills for this." Umbridge turned to her desk and picked up three quills. "You'll be using a very special quill of mine." She said sweetly as she placed a quill in front of each girl. Special quill? It looked like an ordinary quill to Noel as she picked it up to examine it.

"Now, girls. I want you to write, 'I will not be disrespectful and rude'." The short woman spoke, turning back to her desk just as Jessamy's hand shot up in the air. "Uhm, you haven't given us any ink."

Umbridge chuckled in her high-pitched voice and turned around, with that falsely sweet voice of hers. "Oh, you won't be needing any ink. It's a special quill, so start writing."

As Umbridge turned around, Noel turned to her right to see Jessamy sticking her tongue out in Umbridge's direction. "Start writing, Miss Hollingberry or I will make you write more lines." Umbridge turned back towards the brunette and smiled, as if she had eyes in the back of her head and saw Jessamy's tongue sticking out at her.

_Time to get this over with_, Noel thought to herself as she began writing _I will not be disrespectful and rude_ down on the parchment provided for her. As she began writing, the ink had appeared on the paper with each letter the blonde wrote. That was odd. Her left hand began itching after writing one line, but it wasn't until the second line was written that she actually looked at her hand.

There etched into the back of her left hand, appeared _I will not be disrespectful and rude_, like she had been cut. Noel stopped for a moment and looked from the parchment, to the quill then to the back of her left hand, trying to piece all of it together. Looking to Evie and Jessamy, it seemed as if they were also coming to the same conclusion that she was. This quill cut whatever it wrote into the back of your hand.

Noel looked up to see Umbridge smiling wickedly down at the three of them. It was like this toad got some sort of sick pleasure out of doing this to her students. "Tut-tut, continue writing until the message.. sinks in." The fluffy pink monster smiled and sat down at her desk. Noel could've sworn that she'd heard Umbridge laugh softly every few minutes. But each time she looked up, Umbridge was staring intently at the three girls.

If this continued, Noel was going to end up in detention once a week and her hand was going to fall off. And Umbridge would absolutely love it.

* * *

Detention didn't last much more than an hour. And Noel's hand was burning from the words etched into her skin. Before heading to dinner in the Great Hall, Noel and Jessamy stopped into the girl's bathroom on the second floor, Evie had decided to skip dinner altogether and just went back to the common room.

"That pink toad!" Jessamy groaned in frustration as she leaned against one of the bathroom stalls. Noel sighed and tried to wash the blood off of her hand. "You know we can't go to dinner like this right?" She said, wincing as the words carved into the back of her hand began to sting again.

"Why? Because George will absolutely flip his wig when he finds out that damn toad used a blood quill on us, you especially?!" Jessamy shouted but suddenly took a deep breath. "Sorry. That toad pisses me off and I'm really hungry. It's a piss-poor combination."

After turning the faucet off, Noel reached for a towel and gently blotted at the back of her hand. "Yes but, Fred'll be ticked, too. Listen, let's just not tell them exactly what happened."

Jessamy took her turn at the faucet and frowned. "Oh, so how are we going to hide these? Keep our hands in our pockets for all of dinner? Oh, I've just suddenly decided to eat with one hand now. Or I can just say, oh yeah, I only have one hand, why have two? Having two hands is bloody pointless." If anyone was fluent in sarcasm, it would definitely be Jessamy Hollingberry.

That was definitely something to think about. "Well, our robes can do the trick." Noel held out her left arm, the sleeve to her robe covering most of her hand. Being small-framed was always such a burden to Noel, but maybe just this once it would be able to work in her favor.

And they were able to hide it all throughout dinner. Jessamy had managed to sit on her left hand throughout most of dinner, while Noel tried to keep her left hand hidden within the sleeve of her robes. They tried not to talk much about the detention, even though Fred and George kept asking. "She made us write lines. It was rather dull and redundant." Noel shrugged her shoulders as she took a sip of pumpkin juice from her goblet. "And here I thought it would've been something more glamorous. Are you sure knitting wasn't involved?" Fred asked curiously.

And they were able to keep hiding it even after dinner. Once they arrived back in the Gryffindor Common Room, Noel didn't even bother to go up to her dormitory to change. The blonde plopped right down on the plush red sofa, and crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't know about you but I want to go upstairs, and forget the second half of this day ever happened." Jessamy waved to Fred, George and Noel before heading up the stairs. "Hey, Hollingberry. Wait up. Let me ask you something." Fred said, jumping off the back of the sofa and following the brunette up the stairwell.

George sat next to Noel on the sofa and studied the blonde. Her arms were crossed over her chest, she was slouching a bit as she had her feet up on the table in front of them. In all honesty, she looked agitated. "Okay. Spill. What really happened in detention?" The redhead knew something was up, his girlfriend had been acting drastically different than she had been during breakfast that morning.

The blonde turned to George and shrugged her shoulders. "Something obviously happened. You've been guarded ever since dinner." George sighed as he gently tugged on Noel's left arm. It was in that moment that Noel gave up trying to hide her hand, George was going to see it at some point. And the longer she hid it from him, the more angry he would get. "Fine, I'll show you but, you have to promise you won't get mad." Noel said as she turned around on the sofa to face George.

George blinked his brown eyes and tilted his head to the right just a bit. "Why would I get mad?" He asked but then he saw it. Noel held up her left hand, the back of her hand facing him. The blonde didn't say anything as George took it in. "What the hell is that?" He asked quietly, taking her hand in both of his as he examined it. "You know how we said we had to write lines?" Noel asked and George looked up at her. "Turns out our pink fluff ball of a professor is a sadistic toad."

They were both silent for a minute or two until Noel whispered, "A blood quill."

If looks could kill, Noel would probably be dead if she hadn't known that that look wasn't meant for her, but meant for Umbridge instead. "Does that toad not realize we're not in the Middle Ages anymore?" He asked in a frustrated voice. "I'm so sorry." He whispered before putting the uninjured part of Noel's hand to his lips. "And if I would've spoken up, it would've been me right there with you in dentention."

Noel shook her head quickly. "Trust me, you're lucky. Umbridge got a kick out of it. You should've seen her. Sneering at us the entire time. She looked positively giddy. You would've thought she was a little kid opening presents on Christmas morning." Noel frowned, leaning back down against the back of the plush sofa. "I want to kick her in the face."

George pressed his lips to the back of Noel's hand once more before smiling. "Are you sure you'd even be able to reach her face with your foot?" Noel sat up and pouted at George. "If you haven't noticed, I'm a giant compared to her. So yes, I think my foot would be able to make direct contact with her face." Noel knew what George was trying to do, he was trying to lighten the mood. All while he thought up a plan to get revenge on Umbridge. "But please, it's fine. Don't get involved if you don't need to." Noel whispered as she placed her right hand on the redhead's cheek.

"It's not fine. You know if my mum found out about this.." George started to say but Noel interrupted him. "She'd flip out. So she doesn't need to know." George gave Noel a half smile and leaned forward to press his lips to her own.

Once the pair pulled apart, Noel smiled. "Come on. I mean, I highly doubt I'll get another detention. Just need to be careful not to overstep my boundaries, that's all."

George laughed. "Come on, you, not get another detention? That's like me saying that if I ever see that git Percy again, I won't smack him upside the head."

Just as they decided it was time to head up to their respected dormitories, Evie came bounding down the stairwell. "I wouldn't go upstairs just yet if I were you." The dark haired girl warned the pair. Noel blinked and George tilted his head to one side. "Why not?" Noel asked.

"Unless you want to see Jessamy and Fred snogging then, be my guest." Evie waved her hands in the air and slid past George and Noel.

"Wait.. What?" Noel asked, turning to George. "Did she just say - ?"

"The end of the world is here!" George shouted as he grinned at the blonde. "Hey, I got an idea." He leaned forward and whispered something into Noel's ear. She nodded at him and the pair finally climbed to the top of the stairwell where sure enough, what Evie had said was true.

"Merlin's beard!" Both George and Noel shouted. Jessamy and Fred turned to the other pair, flustered. "Fred and Jessamy are making babies up here!" They shouted once more before quickly running down the steps. Jessamy and Fred gave chase, of course, causing more shouting to be done in the process.

* * *

**Author's Note: Ugh, sorry, this wasn't my favorite chapter to write. But I'm trying to get what I can done because as of next Tuesday, I'm a working woman again! I'm just super thrilled that I don't have to drive 35 minutes to work anymore! Anyways, thank you all for reading and don't forget to review!**


	6. Shortcake

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter universe, JK Rowling does! I do however own Noel Honeybourne and random OCs that will appear in this chapter and future chapters. **

**Seventeen's Vow is the second in my series of stories about George Weasley and Noel Honeybourne. The first in the series, Becoming an Adult is Difficult!, can be found in my list of stories and I highly encourage you to read that before starting on this one. It isn't absolutely necessary, but it'll clear up lots of confusion if you read it. This story will begin during the summer of George and Noel's seventh and final year at Hogwarts, and will end once Noel graduates. So please, enjoy the story! And don't forget to read and review!**

**Seventeen's Vow**

**Chapter Six - "Shortcake"**

"Hey, Hollingberry!" Fred said as he climbed the stairs after Jessamy. All Jessamy wanted to do was go to her dorm, change out of her uniform and forget that most of that day ever happened. And it seemed like Fred Weasley was going to delay any of that from happening. Jessamy stopped at the top of the stairs and turned around just as Fred appeared on the top stair. "What is it, Fred?" Her voice sounded strained.

"Ouch. Touchy today, are we?" Fred said as he sat down on the top step, patting the empty spot next to him for the brunette to sit down.

Only Jessamy didn't sit down. She stood still next to a seated Fred, crossing her arms defensively over her chest. "You know Fred, I'm not in the mood. What is it?" The words carved into the back of her hand stung, and she was starting to get the worst headache on the planet. A headache that would only disappear if she went to sleep. And didn't wake up for twenty-four hours. And never went to Defense Against the Dark Arts class ever again.

"Sit." Fred said patting the empty spot next to him once again. "What's wrong?" He asked her once she finally, and reluctantly, sat down next to him. Jessamy didn't answer him right away, instead she took her left hand and rubbed at her eyes. "Nothing. I'm just tired. And frustrated. And my hand hurts. And I really hate toads." Jessamy groaned, still not turning to face Fred.

Fred blinked and saw something on the back of her hand. "Well no one likes toads. Except Longbottom. But, what's wrong with your hand?" Without thinking he reached out to take hold of her right hand, but Jessamy quickly reacted and took her arm back and shook her head. "Nothing. It's just Umbridge is a sadistic cow. Now I hate cows."

"Fine then, if you don't show me, then I'll just have to distract you." Fred said, this time finally catching Jessamy's attention. "Whatever, Weasley."

Fred arched an eyebrow and grinned. "In good time, my dear Jessamy." Then the grin disappeared and Fred reached over and placed a hand on the brunette's shoulder. "But really, what happened?"

Jessamy sighed. Since when was Fred so interested in what was bothering her? Normally he'd just pick on her, light her hair on fire and pass her a Puking Pastille leaving her writhing on the floor in pain. And covered in her own vomit. Now he was being caring, completely unlike Fred Weasley.

But then it dawned on her. Maybe Fred liked her. All the signs were there. Noel enjoyed pointing them out on a daily basis. After all, she'd done the exact same thing to Noel right before George asked her out last year.

Or maybe, just maybe, Fred was screwing with her. But as Jessamy turned and studied the redhead's face, something in his eyes was telling her that he wasn't messing with her.

"Everything just sucks, for lack of a better way to describe it." Jessamy turned away once more, bowing her head as she stared at the floor beneath them.

Fred's elbow nudged Jessamy's arm gently, urging her to continue. "Just this whole divorce thing with my parents. They stopped fighting but just before coming back to school, they started up again. Now that Anna's here at school, now my dad never gets to see her and he's taking it out on mum. And I'm just so damn tired of it." Jessamy frowned and looked back to Fred. He was still watching her, but not saying anything. "And there's the fact that my mum is trying to get me to move back to Tokyo after we graduate."

Don't get her wrong, Jessamy loved being in Tokyo. Her aunts, uncles and cousins were all there. She just didn't want to be so far away from the other people she cared about. "Your mum wants you to move back to Tokyo?" Fred asked, frowning. "Well, don't do it. You know you're destined to move out and in with Noel. Where George and I will visit constantly because who else is going to feed us?"

Jessamy laughed softly, shaking her head. "You two really need to figure out how to cook. With or without magic." But that probably wasn't going to happen. "You'll both end up starving, probably." She could picture it now, they'd move out, never eat but then would always go home so their mother could cook for them. There was nothing wrong with that. It was just strange for Jessamy because her dad is the big cook in her family. "But really, you need to learn how to cook. And do laundry."

"You'll have to teach me." Fred whispered, nudging at the brunette's side again. Jessamy laughed softly, turning to face the redhead once more. "No. Because you won't listen to me. Or you'll be screwing around the whole time. And then I'll have to beat you with a spatula."

"Wait. What's a spatula?" Fred asked seriously. Jessamy's jaw dropped open and smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand.

When Jessamy lifted her jaw off of the floor she spoke up once more. "I'm not sure how to respond to that. I think it's time for me to go to bed." The brunette said as she put the palms of her hands on the floor, pushing herself up. "Go do some research on spatulas, Weasley." Her head was definitely pounding now, and all she wanted to do was go to bed. It didn't matter if she didn't change out of her robes anymore, she would just fall asleep while wearing them.

Fred scrambled to his feet and put his hand on Jessamy's shoulder, trying to get her to stop. "Jessamy." He was probably going to hate himself for this. But the feeling has been nagging at him for months now, and if he didn't do anything about it, it would eventually drive him to insanity.

"What?" The brunette turned around but was caught completely off-guard. Everything had happened so quickly. One minute and she was about to open the door to the girl's dormitory and the next minute Fred Weasley was kissing her. Kissing her! It was like her mind was going fifty miles per minute and her head was spinning out of control. But the head spinning part she completely blamed on the headache.

Putting her hands on Fred's shoulders, she quickly pushed him away. "What the hell are you doing?!" Jessamy said loudly.

He wasn't offended, it was pretty difficult to offend Fred Weasley. "Kissing you, you moron!" He frowned but it was Jessamy who caught him off-guard this time. The brunette took hold of his robes and pulled him back against her. "Took you long enough, you idiot." She whispered before planting her lips on his.

They obviously didn't notice anything around them, especially when Evie walked by them. They did however notice when George and Noel came bounding up the stairs shouting that they were making babies. "Revenge, Freddie dear!" Noel cackled while Fred and Jessamy quickly tore apart, Fred taking off down the stairs after Noel. George and Jessamy took off after them, but stopped halfway down the stairs.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't kill my girlfriend, Fred!" George shouted down the stairwell soon after he heard a loud thud and a few things crashing to the floor.

Hermione called up the stairs shortly after. "Come down here and collect these two. They're trying to destroy the common room. And each other." George rolled his eyes, turning to Jessamy. "About damn time, you two." The brunette only smiled and retreated back towards the girl's dormitory.

"Ouch! Now I'm bleeding, Weasley!" Noel shouted from the common room. "Ah-hah! Revenge, m'lady! Let me braid your hair now!" Fred shouted triumphantly.

"George Weasley, get your ass down here and help me!" Noel yelled.

* * *

Jessamy had done her best to avoid the subject of Fred Weasley from that evening, even if Noel kept pestering her about it. Noel got a few pieces of information here and there, but nowhere did she ever say that she and Fred were official. Which was probably a smart thing, since if Angelina got word of this, she'd be furious. Angelina and Fred had a thing in their fifth year, but things sort of fizzled out. Honestly, Noel didn't even know what happened between the two, because she never really asked. She didn't feel like it was her place to know what happened. If Angelina wanted to talk, Noel would listen.

Though the only times she ever really spoke to Angelina were during quidditch. She hardly ever spoke when they were in their dorm, just a quick hello or good morning. But seeing how today was the first day of quidditch, Angelina had no choice but to speak to them.

Noel decided that she no longer wanted to be Keeper for the Gryffindor team, she and Angelina chatted about it and agreed to let Noel try out for Chaser instead. "That just means we need to find a new keeper then, it's fine." Angelina said, patting Noel's back in the locker room. "I'm sure we'll find somebody as good as you and Wood." Noel never considered herself to be better than Oliver Wood, but at least Angelina thought so.

Thankfully, after an afternoon of grueling tryouts, they did manage to find themselves a new Keeper. Ron Weasley. Angelina wasn't exactly thrilled, but she said that with plenty of practice, Ron had room for improvement and seemed to be the best fit for the team.

"Good job, Ron." Noel congratulated the youngest male Weasley, patting him on the back. "Welcome to the Keeper club." She smiled and Ron laughed. "Yeah, well, you might have to help me. If you couldn't tell, I wasn't bloody good up there."

Noel shook her head. "You'll be fine. I learned with the best," The blonde meant Oliver Wood. Though she was only the reserve to Oliver's Keeper for two years, she had plenty of chances to play in games. "But if you need help, I'd be glad to show you a few things. Angelina would be fine with it."

Ron looked relieved. "Good. And congratulations on getting Chaser. I feel bad for taking your old position though." Noel waved it off. "Thank you. And it's fine. I wanted to try something different." The rest of Gryffindor's quidditch team remained the same. Harry was still Seeker, Fred and George were still Beaters. Angelina was captain and Chaser, Alicia was also Chaser. The only differences were Ron became the new Keeper and Noel became Chaser, knocking Katie Bell down to a reserve. Katie was fine with it, she said something about her school work taking priority that year. "No hard feelings, Noel!" She smiled at the blonde and gave her a hug. "You're actually going to give me more time to study!"

"Good job, Honeybourne!" Fred appeared, gently tapping the blonde's head with his bat. "Now my dear brother is probably make sure a bludger never reaches you." He joked, jerked his thumb back towards George, who was now talking with Ron.

"Oh hush, I think I can handle it by myself." Noel rolled her eyes, sitting down on the bench.

Fred sat down next to her and gently tapped her head once more with his bat. "Do I need to remind you of that one time you took a bludger to the head. And had a wonderful concussion? First one to follow you to the hospital wing was George. Of course you wouldn't remember that, you were knocked out. Dreaming of unicorns and rainbows, of course." Fred laughed and took an index finger and tapped on Noel's forehead. Noel's green eyes went crossed trying to keep up with Fred's finger.

"That's when I knew George fancied you. I knew it before he did." Fred laughed.

The redhead went to poke at her forehead once more but Noel grabbed his finger. "And I knew Jessamy fancied you before she did." She raised an eyebrow and grinned. "My how the tables have turned. So, Freddie, what are you going to do about that?" Noel asked, looking around and making sure Angelina was nowhere in earshot.

"If I tell you, will you stop nagging me about it? And you can't tell Jessamy any of this." Fred turned serious all of a sudden. Noel nodded and held out her right hand for Fred to shake. "My lips are sealed." Fred hesitated before shaking her hand. "Oh yeah, your lips are sealed. It's more like your lips are permanently attached to George's." He shuddered before leaning forward and whispering into Noel's ear.

* * *

It definitely showed during quidditch practice just how much help Ron needed. There were times when Noel couldn't even stand to watch. Though it was certainly easy to tell just how frustrated Angelina was getting by her aggravated shouts. "Stop! Stop! Stop! Ron! You keep forgetting to cover your middle post!"

"Oh. Sorry." Noel heard Ron shout. This was going to be a long day, wasn't it?

When Ron finally caught the quaffle, he enthusiastically tossed it back out to Katie Bell. A bit too enthusiastic because Katie wasn't quite able to catch it and the quaffle made direct contact with her nose, causing a nosebleed. "Sorry!" Ron yelled.

Noel flew towards the middle of the field and saw Fred and George zoom towards Katie, giving her something. She was going to see how Katie was doing, but the twins were there so she should be okay. They were able to practice for a few minutes this time with no interruptions, but Angelina blew her whistle once more. Harry Potter was closest to Noel when he groaned in frustration. "What now?!" He shouted, looking at Noel.

"It's Katie." Katie's nosebleed had gotten worse and at this point she was pale and covered in blood. Fred was the first to reach her, with the others not far behind. "She needs to go to the hospital wing." Angelina said.

Fred and George volunteered. Fred's face looked absolutely horrified, as if all of this had been his fault. "We'll take her. She might've.. accidentally.. swallowed a Blood Blisterpod." George sighed as he helped Fred support Katie between the two of them. Angelina frowned and let them go. "We might as well stop since we'll be down both beaters and a reserve chaser." So Angelina dismissed everyone when she turned to Noel. "Coming?" Noel shook her head, indicating that she would head to the hospital wing to see if George and Fred needed any help. Angelina gave her a smile before returning to the locker room.

Sighing, Noel took off in the direction of the hospital wing. When she got there, she grabbed hold of her broom before running into the room where Katie was. "What's going on?" Noel said, out of breath from running. Fred and George turned to the blonde and shook their heads. "Madam Pomfrey's fixing her up. Says we got her here just in time." George said, running a hand through his hair.

Fred looked absolutely angry with himself. He was mumbling under his breath but all Noel could catch was, "_I gave her the wrong one._" The blonde looked up at George and placed her hand on his arm. "Is he okay?" She nodded her head over in Fred's direction.

George gave Noel a half smile and nodded. "He's just mad at himself. He didn't mean to give her the blisterpod." Fred had a big heart, even if he didn't always show it. His friends meant the world to him, and Noel knew he was angry with himself for doing that to Katie. When Madam Pomfrey came over to the trio and let them know that Katie was going to be fine and she just needed to rest a bit, Noel could practically see the weight being lifted off of Fred's shoulders. "Let her rest, if you want you can come back in a few hours and visit. Okay?" Pomfrey said, patting Fred's shoulders and ushering them out of the hospital wing.

On their way back to Gryffindor Tower, the trio was silent. George and Noel often looked at one another, trying to figure out ways to break the silence. Fred merely shuffled his feet and glared at the floor as he walked. They eventually reached Gryffindor Common Room where Fred plopped down on the red sofa once more. George sat down as well, and Noel was about to when Anna came barreling down the stairs. Jessamy's younger sister didn't say anything, but grabbed onto Noel's hand and began tugging on her arm. "What the?"

The twins looked at Anna then back to Noel and frowned. "What's going on?"

"No time to explain, come on, Noel!" Anna continued to tug on Noel's arm. Noel turned to Fred and George and shrugged her shoulders. The blonde let Anna drag her up the stairs and into the room she shared with the other seventh year girls. And that's when she saw it, though it took her a few seconds to process it. Angelina and Jessamy were glaring daggers at one another, both of them sitting on their respective beds. "I came in here to give Jessamy this letter from mum and I just found them like this."

Noel turned to Anna and smiled, taking the letter from her. "Thank you, Anna. I'll take care of this." She bent down and whispered into the younger girl's ear. "Stay close just in case I need back up, okay?" Anna nodded and slipped out the door.

Pretending to not know what was going on, Noel walked over to her bed and took off part of her quidditch uniform, the cape that read _Honeybourne 4_ on the back. "So, how are you two doing?" Noel asked as she sat down on her bed in an attempt to unlace her shoes.

Only neither of them spoke. Which didn't surprise Noel. Sighing, she let go of her shoelaces and looked up. Jessamy was sitting on top of her bed, Indian-style and glaring in Angelina's direction. Angelina was in a similar stance except her arms were crossed defiantly over her chest. Deciding to just forget about it and not get involved, Noel stood up and headed towards the bathroom door. "If you two need me, I'll be cleaning up." Her hand was on the handle to the bathroom when Angelina was the first to break the awkward silence.

"It's her fault, you know."

She was so close to escaping.

"Oh? My fault?" Jessamy retorted, pointing to herself.

"Yeah! All of this happened because of you!"

_Why did I have to allow Anna to drag me up here?_ Noel inwardly sighed and slowly turned around. "Okay. Okay. Just stop for a second. Angelina, can you fill me in?" Noel turned to the dark haired girl and quickly held up her hand for Jessamy, to stop her from interrupting.

Angelina glared at Jessamy once again and spoke up. "She's the reason Fred and I broke up." Jessamy opened her mouth once more but Noel shushed her. "You'll get your turn. Let Angelina talk." Jessamy glowered and crossed her arms over her chest.

Noel stood at the end of Angelina's bed before she continued. "I mean, it really wasn't her fault. And I realized how much he fancied her before he even knew it. It was two summers ago. Something was going on with her parents," Jessamy interrupted quickly. "My parents got divorced." Noel gave the brunette a look that told her to stop and she did.

"Fred was constantly writing letters to her. And I barely got any." Angelina continued to say how it all went downhill from there. Soon enough, Jessamy had her turn to speak but the speaking didn't last very long because the two girls eventually started screaming again.

"Just stop!" Noel shouted, clamping her hands over her ears. Both girls quieted down and stared at the blonde. "Just a minute. There's only one way to settle this." Noel went to the door to open it, she was going to retrieve Fred and lock the three of them in that room until they all got over it. Luckily, she didn't have to go far to find him. Once she opened the door, she saw three people standing there. Anna, George and Fred. "You. In there, now." Noel grabbed Fred and shoved him into her room, shutting the door behind her.

Noel was leaning against the door as George and Anna blinked at her. "What?" She asked the two of them as they continued to stare at her. "Either they destroy each other or settle this."

"You do realize my sister knows Aikido, right?" Anna said and George laughed. "And you do realize Angelina is going to torture us next quidditch practice, right?"

She didn't think about that. Noel sighed and stood straight up. "Oh well. And I wanted to take a shower but obviously, that's not going to happen now." She waved her hand towards the door where loud talking could be heard behind it.

George reached over and wrapped an arm around Noel's waist, pulling her closer to him. "There's always my room. You're more than welcome to change in there." He said, giving the blonde a mischievous grin.

"Oh my gosh! Ew! Gross! You're dirty!" Anna shouted, flailing her arms in the air before running for the stairs.

Noel bit her bottom lip and looked up at George. "You're giving her a complex." All George did was shrug his shoulders and kiss the top of Noel's head.

* * *

Soon enough, Noel had to venture down to the Great Hall for something to eat. When she left, George had been working on something and the three she had previously locked inside her room were still in there. She sat down at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, still in her quidditch uniform. All she wanted to do was change, but she didn't want to get caught up in what was going on.

At least she had strawberry shortcake to eat. It was as if the universe knew exactly what would cheer her up. As she began picking at the last bits of shortcake on her plate, Angelina appeared next to her. "Hey, mind if I sit? George said you were down here." Noel shook her head and smiled.

She was just hoping Angelina wouldn't kill her. If anything, she'd make her life hell on the quidditch pitch. It wouldn't be the first or the last time.

"Listen, I'm sorry about what happened earlier. It's just, it's been bothering me for a while. And I shouldn't have gotten you involved." Angelina fiddled her thumbs together on the table. Noel set her fork down and turned to the other girl. "It's okay. I just felt bad. I was afraid that if you guys didn't hash this out, things would eventually blow up." Living with four other girls could be incredibly stressful and annoying. "Guys must have it easy, eh?" Angelina said and Noel laughed.

"So are you and Jessamy okay?" Noel asked, cleaning off her plate. It was a touchy subject, but she couldn't help but be curious. Angelina shrugged her shoulders. "We will be, eventually. These things take time."

If only things like that could happen overnight. "As long as I don't have to clean up someone else's blood off the wall, I'm good." Noel laughed and Angelina joined in.

"There's other things to worry about. Like Ron. And how we as a team need to work together and finally win the Cup this year." Angelina was starting to sound like Oliver Wood.

"Now what could possibly go wrong? We've got a great team this year! And with some more practice, I'm sure Ron'll be fine." Noel said but didn't realize what exactly could go wrong. And what could go wrong was everything.

Later that night, when everyone else in the dorm was asleep, Noel cracked open the journal Cedric gave her. She'd been reading it as often as she could, but there were a few pages she found herself often reading over and over again. Particularly, Jessamy's.

_Hey, Honeybourne._

_You know, when Cedric approached me with this idea for your birthday, I thought he was batshit crazy. But the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. Hell, even George was on board. What'd he say, anyways? Probably something perverted like, 'I like your boobs' or I don't even want to know. I'm just glad you two got smart and finally got together. FINALLY. Because really, you two are perfect together. You'll end up having ginger babies and they'll all be boys probably and then you'll be overrun by boys and then you'll come begging me to save your sanity and babysit all of them. I'm just telling you now, I don't babysit kids in groups of one or more. Hah. Though really, we all know once we graduate George'll knock you up. Kidding! … Or am I?_

_But really, you're my best friend. And I don't know what I'd do without you. I honestly can't remember life without you, we've been friends forever it seems. I guess we're just lucky our dads are friends. What if we weren't sorted into Gryffindor together? I'm just lucky I wasn't sorted into Hufflepuff like the other loons. Sorry, Cedric. Dad was in Hufflepuff. Granddad was in Hufflepuff, too. Watch, Anna will get Hufflepuff and then I'll be the odd one out. _

_Happy Birthday! Just so you know, I'm aware that you and George are plotting to destroy my bow collection. And it's currently in a safe place. So don't even think about it anymore. Mum's taking me to Shibuya over the summer so I'm bringing home lots more bows. And don't forget that if you need anything over the summer, don't hesitate to write. I'd love for you to come visit me in Tokyo, but with your brother's wedding and all, I know it'll probably be difficult. Someday, we'll go on this glorious adventure, we'll travel the world and do all of these crazy things before we have to set foot in the 'real world' as my mum so happily puts it. _

_Oh, I've known you longer so can you please tell George to stop saying otherwise? He wasn't the one who saved you after that plump muggle kid shoved you off the playground set when we were five. Hell, he didn't even know you then! So ah-hah, Weasley! I win! Pish posh, George Weasley!_

_I love you, but in a completely different way than George does. Sorry, kiddo, but you're just not my type._

_Jessamy Hollingberry_

_PS, Were you the one who put that wooden clog in our sink?_

* * *

**Author's Note: Ugh, that chapter. I'm so sorry, but filler chapters are just bleh to me. And I'm glad to have this one done. The constantly accumulating snow around here is driving me crazy, and I'm really sick and tired of shoveling the driveway. But! Being snowed in just means more chapters for everyone! Hopefully somebody enjoyed this. And thanks to ****potterphilsosepher**** and michness for the awesome reviews. And I'm glad you like Jessamy, she's a lot of fun to write. Next chapter we'll see some Dumbledore's Army, Hermione pitching a fit over Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and some tacos.**


	7. Amidst the Squall

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter universe, JK Rowling does! I do however own Noel Honeybourne and random OCs that will appear in this chapter and future chapters. **

**Seventeen's Vow is the second in my series of stories about George Weasley and Noel Honeybourne. The first in the series, Becoming an Adult is Difficult!, can be found in my list of stories and I highly encourage you to read that before starting on this one. It isn't absolutely necessary, but it'll clear up lots of confusion if you read it. This story will begin during the summer of George and Noel's seventh and final year at Hogwarts, and will end once Noel graduates. So please, enjoy the story! And don't forget to read and review!**

**Seventeen's Vow**

**Chapter Seven - "Amidst the Squall"**

_Educational Decree No. 23, __Dolores Jane Umbridge has been appointed to the post of Hogwarts High Inquisitor._

"What the hell is this?" Jessamy pointed to a stray copy of the Daily Prophet one morning during breakfast. "Hogwarts High Inquisitor?" She asked once more, holding up the paper and shaking it violently in Noel's face.

"Easy now." George said, taking the paper out of Jessamy's hands. "That paper didn't do anything to you."

"Except deliver the dreadful news." Fred retorted, waving a piece of bacon in the air.

Noel leaned towards George and began reading the article over the redhead's shoulder. "In a surprise move last night the Ministry of Magic passed a new legislation giving itself an unprecedented level of control at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Minister's been growing uneasy about the goings-on at the school for quite some time. Says Junior Assistant to the Minister, Percy Sassypants Weasley." Noel stopped reading and looked to Fred and George.

"He just wishes he could live up to the name of Sassypants." Fred shook his head, making a disgusted face and making a violent gesture with his fork.

She continued reading the article aloud, stating how Umbridge was appointed to post of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, thanks to Educational Decree No. 22. "And now with the passing of Educational Decree No. 23, Dolores Umbridge has been assigned the newly created position of Hogwarts High Inquisitor. The Inquisitor will have the power to inspect her fellow professors, to see if they are teaching up to the standards here at the Ministry. Dolores Umbridge has accepted this position along with her teaching post and we are all happy to say that she did. This is one move that some parents of students at Hogwarts are very positive about and are gladly supporting. Yadda yadda yadda, we're all screwed." Noel rolled her eyes and stopped reading.

"Wish they would've waited until next year. You know, when we all weren't here." Jessamy groaned, resting her head on the table in the Great Hall.

George pushed the paper to the side and looked around. "So, if Umbridge is inspecting other professors, that just means we get to see her a lot more than usual."

Jessamy's head shot up and she had the sudden desire to bash her head back down on the table. Repeatedly. "Hooray. Excuse me while I go vomit with excitement."

"You vomit, and I will destroy all my pink clothes." Noel said as George grinned next to her.

"The toad is out to destroy every single one of us!" Jessamy groaned, shoving her full breakfast plate off to the side. "And now I'm not hungry."

Fred looked from Jessamy to Noel then to George. "Did she just say she wasn't hungry?" George and Noel nodded. "Well then, if you don't mind." Fred said as he pushed Jessamy's plate towards him and began eating it. Sitting across the table from them, Noel and George expect the brunette to retaliate, but she didn't. She continued to sit on the bench, like a bump on a log. "Wow. What's wrong with her?" Noel asked.

George arched an eyebrow at Fred. "What'd you do to her? Keep her up late last night?"

"Nope. Leave my nonexistent sex life out of this conversation, George." Jessamy waved her hand in the air but then pointed at both George and Noel. "What about yours?"

"Hold on." Noel said holding both of her hands out in front of her. "Tell me how exactly did we go from talking about Umbridge taking over the world, to our sex life?" The blonde said as she pointed between herself and George.

Fred and Jessamy looked at one another, then nodded. "Obviously it's more pleasant to talk about." Jessamy said before Fred continued. "So, when am I going to be an uncle?"

Noel rolled her eyes while George grinned. "I'm not even looking at him and I can tell he's enjoying this. Isn't he?" Noel asked the two seated across from her and they nodded in return.

"Ah, but we'll be off to Hogsmeade this weekend. Surely you two will get plenty of alone time then, eh?" Fred said, wiggling his eyebrows mischievously.

George ran a hand through his hair and spoke, "I should probably be concerned that you're all interested in our sex life, especially you, dear Fred. But you're forgiven." Noel sighed and shoved her empty breakfast plate to the side. "As it is, we have some work to attend to, Fred." George said, patting at his school bag sitting on the bench next to him.

"Oh, yes. Work. Need to get ahead of ourselves." Fred said as he stood up. "And you two, don't lose your minds in Potions. Snape would really love that." Picking up his bag, Fred began walking towards the exit of the Great Hall.

George stood up and leaned forward, lightly poking at Noel's nose. "I'm worried, you know that." Jessamy took this opportunity to rest her head against the table once more, that just meant Noel was going to have to wake her up once more before heading off to Potions. Noel stood up and stared up at George. "Why be worried?" The redhead asked her.

"You know I support you in your business ventures with Fred. I'm just worried about Umbridge. And you know Hermione's been snooping around." The blonde said, sighing.

"Nonsense. We're big boys. We can handle ourselves. As for Hermione, she just needs to lighten up a bit. She'll get over it." George smiled, leaning down to kiss Noel's forehead. "Besides, you and I have a date in Hogsmeade tomorrow."

Noel didn't seem entirely convinced. Of course George and Fred could take care of themselves, but Hermione had been on such a scolding kick lately that she wouldn't be surprised if the Prefect got the twins into trouble. "Chin up." George smiled down at Noel once more. "Just a few more months and then we're out of here." This time he placed a sweet kiss on the blonde's lips.

Jessamy groaned from her spot at the table. "Ugh. You two. So damn sweet I can feel my teeth rotting."

"Somebody's grumpy." Noel turned to the brunette before turning back to George. "Just don't do anything in front of Hermione." George nodded. "Yes, master. And don't fall asleep in Potions. And really, good luck getting that one to move." He pointed at Jessamy before turning around to meet back up with Fred.

This could take a while. Noel sat back down at the table and poked at Jessamy's arm. "Come on. We need to get going. Snape'll kill us if we're late." Only Jessamy wasn't moving. At least not moving much faster than a snail would be.

"Snape can suck it." The brunette groaned, still not moving. The sound of her voice was muffled against her arm.

Noel turned the poking into rough nudging this time. "I highly doubt you want Snape to suck it. Come on. Let's go."

Jessamy was so quiet, you could probably hear crickets if it weren't so late in the morning. "I'll tell Fred that you're in love with Professor Snape instead."

That seemed to have gotten the brunette's attention. Jessamy shot straight up and got to her feet. "Let's go. And just so you know, I only ever had one dream about Snape. And don't you dare tell Fred about it."

* * *

The trip to Hogsmeade had finally arrived, and naturally, it decided to snow the evening before. Why did it always seem to snow right before a Hogsmeade trip? Always. Fred and Jessamy had gone off on their own, this was all part of Fred's elaborate plan of course. He had asked Noel earlier to keep quiet about it, but he planned on properly asking Jessamy out during this trip. "It's about time someone made an honest woman out of her." George said about Jessamy as they walked the snowy streets of Hogsmeade. "We just have to remember to meet up with Harry, Ron and Hermione at the Hogs Head at two." The redhead said as he latched onto Noel's hand.

That's right. The evening before, Hermione had popped by and asked everyone if they were going to Hogsmeade. She said something about them having an idea about what to do about Umbridge and to meet at the Hogs Head at two. Seemed fitting, but why the Hogs Head? Perhaps they had to meet somewhere no one would suspect. But the Hogs Head always creeped Noel out.

George looked down and noticed Noel wasn't paying any attention. It was completely normal for her, but she'd been doing it so much more after Cedric died and the fight she had with her mother over the summer. "Hey. You okay?" He asked her, squeezing her hand that he held tightly in his own.

_Fluffy unicorns. Glitter rainbows. An oversized taco._ Noel shook the thoughts out of her head and looked up to George, smiling. "I'm fine. You know me, zoning out." She laughed, taking her free hand and knocking herself on top of her head. "Just lots to think about right now."

"Like what? You already know how handsome I am, I mean, come on."

"Handsome, yes. Mine, yes. The best thing that's ever happened to me? Of course." Noel said and George grinned. "It's just, I've really been thinking lately. About what to do after school." George pulled Noel to a nearby bench and the pair sat down before she continued talking. "I've pretty much decided to continue with quidditch. But where, I don't know."

George nodded, still holding onto Noel's hands. "Good, because it's what you want to do. Not what anyone else wants you to do. But between you and me, I'm incredibly happy knowing that's what you want to do."

Noel turned to George and tilted her head slightly to the right. "Really?"

"Yes because I can go to your games and say, you see that Chaser with the out of control mop of curls on her head? She's mine and she means the world to me. So if anyone tries to hurt you, I will break their nose. Among other body parts." Noel's face broke into a smile, leaning over to kiss him.

When they broke apart, George looked down at her. "No really, I mean that. If anything happens to you, I will break some fingers. And noses. Maybe a skull or two."

Noel shook her head and held onto George's hand tightly. "Don't think you need to worry about that. But the thing is, if I go into quidditch. Mum'll pitch a fit. She'll probably kick me out, too. Even though I know dad'll be thrilled for me. It's probably healthier if I move out straight away, anyways." Noel looked away, getting lost in her own thoughts again. "Jessamy and I were talking about moving in together. But then she was talking about going back to Tokyo because her mum wants her to and she doesn't know what she's doing.." Noel began rambling but George managed to cut her off.

"Come stay with me. I mean, Fred and I." George said seriously.

That was a bit of a shock. Not necessarily a bad type of shock, just an unexpected one. "Live with you and Fred? As in, have my own room or me share a room with you?" The blonde questioned. "It depends, I guess." George stated.

"I'm telling you right now, your mum won't have it. I'm sure she'd be maybe okay with me having my own room. But if we shared, she'd go ballistic." And rightfully so, Noel didn't really blame Molly Weasley. She'd feel the same way if it were one of her children, one of her nonexistent children.

"Well, we'll be old enough. Both adults, so I don't see the problem here. Even if mum isn't happy about it." George said, but the words he spoke caused Noel to frown. "Not that mum isn't happy. No, really. She's thrilled about us being together. She keeps asking me if you're going to stay with us over Christmas."

Christmas, Noel had completely forgotten about that. She didn't even know if she'd be going home for Christmas this year, because she hadn't spoken to her mother since that fight at St. Mungo's. "But really, we'll worry about it when the time comes." George said, reaching out a dusting off a bit of snow that had fallen onto the blonde's nose.

Noel continued to frown. "I just don't want mum to kick me out onto the street. I'm really not sure if she would, but she was so angry last time." She shook her head, anything could happen. Though George was probably right, they should just worry about that when the time came.

"I mean, Fred and I have this brilliant idea. When we open up our shop, we want to live above it. It'll just be easier that way. More convenient. And if we have enough room, we'll work something out. Just try not to worry about it." George smiled as Noel looked up at him. That was easy enough for him to say, of course Noel was going to worry about it. He had so much figured out and just now she came to the conclusion that she wanted to play quidditch when they graduate. And just because she wants to play quidditch doesn't mean she'll actually get the chance to. There would be many tryouts, many screw ups and who knows what else. It wasn't going to be that easy. Nothing in life was ever easy.

"You're worrying about it, aren't you?" George asked.

Noel looked up at the redhead and smiled. "How'd you know?"

George put his hand to his chin and pretended to be thinking. "I know you better than you think, Noel."

"Oh? Okay. Well then, what's my favorite food?" Noel asked George.

"You like meatloaf, but, I know deep down you have this undying love for tacos." George grinned remembering the time Noel ran up to Dumbledore once during their third year and begged the Headmaster to have the kitchen serve tacos. And one day the following week, they were able to have tacos for dinner. George will never forget the way the blonde's face lit up at the sight of them.

Noel nodded in approval and tried to think of another question. "Oh, you probably won't remember this one. What terrifies me the most?"

"Snape in a thong?"

The blonde made gagging noises.

"Sorry."

There was a long pause before George spoke up. "Snape in a thong eating a taco?"

Noel smacked the redhead's arm and stood up. At least it had stopped snowing at this point, but it was still cold outside. She held out her hand and after George took it, they began walking once more. They walked together in silence before George tugged on Noel's hand. "You're afraid of being alone, aren't you?"

They stopped for a moment so Noel could just glance at George. How could he possibly know? It wasn't exactly common knowledge that Noel really hated being by herself if she didn't need to be. "How can you tell that?" She asked and George shook his head. "I don't know exactly, but all the more reason for you to stay with Fred and I after school's done." He winked at her and smiled.

"So! My beautiful lady, what would you like to do before we have to meet everyone at two?" George asked, attempting to change the subject. They were at Hogsmeade to have fun, not to reminisce and get depressed. Noel tugged on her brightly colored carousel coat and thought about it.

Noel looked up at George and grinned. "Honeydukes? Because it's not like I don't have enough sugar in my life." She laughed and while holding onto George's hand, she began to drag him in the direction of the sweet shop.

The time they spent together was something both George and Noel needed. Noel was able to forget about what had been bothering her and George was just happy to spend time with Noel. They didn't get to see each other as often as they liked, since most of their free time during the evening was filled up. George and Fred had taken to selling some of their products to other students, and even getting other students to be willing test subjects for things. While George had been doing that, Noel had been nose-deep in her studies. NEWTs were absolutely more stressful than the OWL exams were so that just meant even more studying to do. Though Noel had taken quite a few trips to the library to get some proper studying done, especially before Jessamy and Angelina had attempted to make up.

After eating one too many licorice wands, and countless chocolate frogs, it was nearing two o'clock. "Oh! We should get going!" Once they were on their way to the Hogs Head, they realized that they weren't the first to arrive there. Harry, Ron and Hermione were already there. What was surprising was that Fred and Jessamy were already there, so the pair sat down next to them. Noel tugged on George's arm and pointed out that Fred and Jessamy were holding hands.

"I win!" Noel whispered and held up her right hand. George rolled his eyes and gave the blonde a high five before they settled down.

Plenty of others had shown up, a lot of people Noel didn't even know who they were. Though the one thing she realized was, no one from Slytherin had shown up. Which was fine by her. There were plenty of people there from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

At a few minutes after two, Harry, Ron and Hermione all stood up. Hermione did most of the talking, or lack there of. Lots of stuttering, less talking. But soon enough, they were able to get their point across. "Erm, well, you all should know why you're here. Harry had the idea, actually we had the idea that it might be a good idea that if anyone really wanted to study Defense Against the Dark Arts, like actually study it, well, it would be good if we could take matters into our own hands."

Take matters into our own hands?

"And by saying that, I mean learning how to properly defend ourselves, not just in theory but actually practice spells -" But someone had cut Hermione off. "You want to pass your OWL exam this year, I bet, right?" The boy asked and Hermione nodded.

"Yes but that's not all I want. I want to be properly trained, I want to be able to defend myself since," Hermione took a long pause before continuing, "Because Lord Voldemort's back."

The reaction to Hermione saying Voldemort's name was predictable. Someone sitting with Cho shrieked, spilling butterbeer all over herself, a few people twitched, others shuddered and Noel could've sworn she heard Neville Longbottom yelp. Saying Voldemort's name never really bothered Noel. The only thing that bothered her was that no one said it, so when she did hear his name, it just sounded strange. It sounded almost unnatural.

"That's what we have planned for, anyways. If you want to join us we need to decide exactly how to -" Hermione was interrupted once more by the same blonde boy. "Where's the proof that You-Know-Who's back?"

Noel rolled her eyes. Surely deep down she had hoped none of it was true, but something was nagging at her telling it was. Now Hermione and the blonde boy from Hufflepuff were arguing, finally Harry stood up. "I saw him. Dumbledore told the whole school what happened at the end of last year. And if you didn't believe him, or you don't believe me, it's fine. I'm not going to waste an entire afternoon trying to convince any of you."

But Zacharias Smith, the annoying blonde boy from Hufflepuff mentioned how he wanted to hear exactly how Cedric died, Noel hung her head. That's not what she wanted to hear, she didn't want to hear that at all. George sensed Noel's changing mood and gave her hand a tight squeeze. She squeezed back and mentally prepared herself to block anything out if need be.

"I don't want to talk about Cedric Diggory. Okay? So if that's the only reason any of you came here, you might as well clear out now." Harry said and Noel was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Harry looked to be getting frustrated again and while Hermione began talking again, someone spoke up from behind Noel and George. "Is it true you can produce a Patronus?"

Patronus? The one spell Noel always had problems with. Harry replied a bit defensively with a, "Yes."

"And did you really kill a basilisk with that sword in Dumbledore's office?" Another person asked. Harry nodded and all around them people kept listing off Harry's accomplishments since his first year. "Look, I don't want to sound like I'm trying to be modest but I had a lot of help with those things.."

"So what you're saying is you're trying to weasel your way out of showing us you can do those things?" Zacharias said defiantly.

Ron must've reacted badly to hearing the word _weasel _and told Zacharias to shut up. "Well, we all turned up to learn from him and now he's trying to say he really can't do any of it." Zacharias retorted.

"That's not what he said, moron." Fred growled.

"Actually, would you like us to clean your ears out for you?" George asked as he pulled out a rather long, scary looking metal instrument from one of his bags. Noel smacked herself on the forehead and wondered why they decided to make a trip to Zonko's.

"Or well, any other part of your body. Really, we're not that fussy as to where we stick this." Fred finished George's thought and Jessamy sat next to him, rolling her eyes.

Hermione quickly looked to Noel and Jessamy, to which both girls shrugged their shoulders. "We don't get them, either." They said before Hermione spoke back up. "Er, well, moving on. The point is, have we agreed that we want to take lessons from Harry?"

Everyone seemed to whisper around them, mainly in agreement. "Okay then, the next question is, how often will we be able to do this. We could meet no less than once a week-" Hermione was interrupted once more, this time by Angelina and her concerns for quidditch practice. Followed by other concerns from other people.

Ginny made a noise very similar to Umbridge and everyone laughed. "Enough babbling, weren't we trying to decide how often we're going to meet for lessons?"

"Once a week sounds good to me."

"And yes, Angelina, we know about quidditch."

"Now we have to decide where."

"We'll figure something out."

Hermione began looking through her bag and pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill. "I think everyone should write their name down, so we all know who was here. And we all ought to agree not to tell anybody what we're doing. Especially Umbridge. Or anybody else for that matter."

Fred was the first to reach for the parchment, jotting his name down. He passed it along to Jessamy, who also signed. Noel was next to write her name down, not even bothering to think of the consequences. When she finished signing, she passed the parchment along to George. A few others had issues with signing, but after talking it over, they gave in. Once everyone had signed, few started leaving. Fred stood up and looked down to Jessamy. "Well, I don't know about you guys but we have some pressing matters to attend to." Jessamy smiled and after waving to George and Noel, they left the pub.

Ginny wandered over to Noel and pointed to where Jessamy and Fred had just vacated. "Are those two together?"

Noel shrugged her shoulders. "Rumor has it, yes. But they left before I could bug them."

Ginny grinned and reached over to pat George's shoulders. "Aw, look at my two favorite brothers. Finally happy. About time the two of you make honest men out of George and Fred."

"Hey! What do you mean, those two are your favorites?" Ron could be heard whining behind them.

* * *

It had been such a long day in Hogsmeade that as soon as Noel plopped down on the plush red sofa in the Gryffindor Common Room, she promptly fell asleep. It also should be mentioned that she fell asleep on George as he sat on the sofa just moments before. He didn't want to wake her, and it was still relatively early, so he decided to just stay in that one spot for a while longer. Jessamy bid Fred and George goodnight, winking at Fred once before heading up the stairs to the dorms. Fred decided to lean against the back of the sofa and grinned down at a sleeping Noel. "What'd you do to her to tire her out, George?"

George involuntarily played with one of the stray curls from Noel's head. "Don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb with me. I'm not stupid. I may have heard a few things the day before we came back to school." Fred spoke quietly, as if he didn't want to wake Noel up. If he woke her up and she heard what he said, she'd kick him where it hurt the most. The back of his knees, of course.

George raised his eyebrows and looked up at his twin brother. "Please tell me it was just you who heard anything." It was embarrassing enough knowing that Fred heard a few things they had been doing the day before they left Grimmauld Place.

"Have no fear. It was just me. Be thankful it wasn't mum. She tried to come upstairs at one point, but I was able to distract her. All I can tell you is that it involved fire." Fred stood up straight and stretched his arms over his head. "I'm heading up. Don't be too loud down here, other people will be trying to sleep." Fred winked to his brother before heading upstairs.

Noel shifted just slightly on George's lap and he shook his head. "You've got a few more minutes before you need to get up, Leon." He didn't use it often, but Leon was one of the nicknames he had for Noel. Ginny actually came up with it, she had been going through a phase where she'd call everyone by whatever their name was spelled backwards. And since Leon was Noel backwards, it sort of stuck.

A few more minutes passed and Noel hadn't moved. To be sure she wasn't just messing with him and faking being asleep, George shifted around to see if Noel would move.

Nope. Though he could've sworn Noel began snoring.

Looking down he could tell she was definitely asleep. George sighed and managed to gather the blonde up in his arms and stand. "You'll be much more comfortable in your own bed. Come on, now." He said as he carried Noel up the stairs. Thankfully no one else was still up at this point. After quietly entering the seventh year girl's dorm, George found out that everyone else in there was asleep. Or at least, he could hear Jessamy's snoring and everyone else had their curtains drawn closed. Making his way over to Noel's bed, George gently placed her down and stood back up. He hated leaving her like this, and he wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed with her.

After thinking about it, George decided what was the worst that could happen? Fred would know that he never came back for bed. But it didn't matter, Fred wasn't judgmental. Of course he'd tease George about it, but it's nothing he couldn't handle. And it wasn't as if they were going to have sex. Not here, at least. As George stood by the edge of Noel's bed, the blonde reached out and grabbed onto his hand. "Nope, stay." She mumbled sleepily as she began tugging on his hand.

It couldn't hurt and with the curtains drawn closed, the others wouldn't even know he was there. "Anything for you." George whispered before climbing into bed next to Noel. She curled up against George's chest and he couldn't help but smile. This just seemed so right, like she fit perfectly against him. Two pieces of a puzzle that perfectly fit together. George wrapped an arm around Noel as he could feel her cheek nuzzle against his neck. The feeling of her warm breath against his neck was entirely new, and something he knew he'd have absolutely no problem getting used to.

"I love you." George whispered, kissing the top of her head. In response, he could feel Noel wrap an arm around his waist and squeeze. She must've been partially awake since he heard he whisper back, "I love you more."

* * *

**Author's Note: Blame the never-ending snow for these updates! So I hope you guys enjoyed this one! I appreciate the reviews, so thank you ****potterphilsosepher****! There'll be loads more alone time between George and Noel coming up. And there'll be more Jessamy, of course. I based her off one of my very best friends from my old job so I really have fun writing her! But I'm excited to say that I'll be in NYC next Saturday to see Oliver and James Phelps at the Harry Potter Exhibition! Though my sister has decided to tag along, we'll see how this goes! So don't forget to review, everyone! Thanks~**


	8. Raspberries and Solitude

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter universe, but JK Rowling does! I do however own Noel Honeybourne and random OCs that will appear in this chapter and future chapters. **

**Seventeen's Vow is the second in my series of stories about George Weasley and Noel Honeybourne. The first in the series, Becoming an Adult is Difficult!, can be found in my list of stories and I highly encourage you to read that before starting on this one. It isn't absolutely necessary, but it'll clear up lots of confusion if you read it. This story will begin during the summer of George and Noel's seventh and final year at Hogwarts, and will end once Noel graduates. So please, enjoy the story! And don't forget to read and review!**

**Seventeen's Vow**

**Chapter Eight - "Raspberries and Solitude"**

Noel vaguely remembered what happened the night before. Not that anything bad happened. She just remembered being so tired that as soon as she sat down on the sofa in the common room, she was out like a light. It wasn't something she could help, she had that weird knack for falling asleep just about anywhere. There was one time when she was little that Bryce caught her asleep in the bathtub at home. It was oddly comfortable at the time. She remembered the bit when she was in George's arms, he must've been the one that brought her up to her room and into her bed. And she sort of remembered asking him to stay. Though she could've sworn all of that had been a dream. A very nice dream.

It was a bit of a surprising sight to wake up against George Weasley for the very first time in her life.

It was something she could see herself getting used to in the future.

George was still fast asleep, an arm draped over Noel's waist. It was a Sunday, so there was no need to be up so early. At least it seemed awfully early. Noel peeked out of her bed curtains and saw it wasn't even light out yet. _Good_. She thought to herself as she curled back up against the redhead. Laying her head against George's chest, she smiled at the sound of his heart beating. This all seemed too perfect. She had to be dreaming.

Except for the fact that George was a pillow and blanket hog. The hogging of her pillow wasn't too big of a deal to Noel. She just improvised and used George as her pillow. But the blanket part? Let's just say it'll be something she really needed to get used to. Or she'd just have to wear four jumpers to bed to prevent freezing to death.

George had shifted around a bit, leaving Noel to wonder if she'd accidentally woken him up. It didn't seem to matter much, though. George tightened his hold around Noel and she buried her face against his neck once more.

She must've fallen asleep soon after that, because when she felt George kiss her forehead, she woke up. When she managed to open her eyes, she saw that there was definitely light pouring in from the window. "Go back to sleep." George whispered, lightly brushing stray pieces of blonde hair that had fallen into Noel's eyes. She shook her head and frowned. If she fell back to sleep now, then she'd be missing out on all of this. This was something entirely new to her, and she didn't want to be asleep for it. This was the first time she and George literally slept in the same bed together. Of course they've had sex before, but they never actually got to sleep in the same bed together.

Plush purple sleeping bags in the Great Hall during their fifth year when Sirius Black was on the loose didn't count, either.

George went to say something but there was another noise in the room. It was coming from the right, which meant it must've been Jessamy, since her bed was to the right of Noel's. Noel quickly put a finger to George's lips as they heard Jessamy wander into the bathroom. "Hold on." The blonde whispered to George as she crawled over the redhead and discreetly peeked out from behind the curtains. Angelina's bed was empty, so was Alicia's. Evie was still asleep, but Noel wasn't worried about her. Evie was a heavy sleeper and usually slept while wearing earplugs. It was Jessamy who would have a field day if she found out George spent the night in their room.

"Sassypants has entered the bathroom." Noel said as she closed the curtains around her bed once more.

"Good." George took this opportunity and wrapped his arms around Noel's waist and flipped her back down on the bed. Noel laughed and looked up at George. "You're a blanket hoarder, you know that?"

He pretended to be hurt and pouted. "Ah yes, but, there's nothing wrong with that, is there?" George leaned down and kissed Noel before pulling just an inch away from her lips. "Nothing wrong with that? If this happens again in the future, you'll hog all the blankets again, and pillow mind you, then I'll freeze to death in the middle of the night!" Noel laughed softly, pouting. She had never shared a bed with anyone before, even when Jessamy spent the night at her house. Jessamy always wanted to sleep on the floor.

"Oh, something tells me you won't freeze to death." George whispered, his face still dangerously close to Noel's.

Noel studied George's face and could feel her cheeks warm up. "Stop tempting me, George Weasley."

"What if that's exactly what I want?"

"You're really asking for it, sir. And at any moment Jessamy will come out of that bathroom and catch us."

George grinned. "It's the thrill, isn't it?"

Noel moved just slightly and kissed George. But she had other things in mind. Somehow, she and George managed to switch places, this time Noel was sitting on his stomach. If George wanted to tempt her, then two could easily play that game.

"You're evil, you know that?" George frowned up at Noel and she could only smile at him. "I try my best."

"Gah! What is this?!" Jessamy could be heard shouting from inside of the bathroom.

George cursed under his breath and looked up at Noel. "And here I was, so close."

"Noel! Get your tail in here! My hair is stuck." The brunette groaned from behind the closed door.

"Sorry, handsome." Noel frowned, leaning down and kissing George's lips. His hands were planted firmly on her waist, but he wasn't easing up.

"I swear on my beautiful bow collection that if you do not get your arse out of bed and get in here and help me, I will uh, I'll do something incredibly mean!" Jessamy opened the door to the bathroom at this point and stomped over to Noel's bed.

Uh oh. If Jessamy knew that George had spent the night, her brain would implode. No, she herself would implode. Then mercilessly tease the two until the end of time. Noel looked down at George and he quietly put a finger to his lips then pointed for her to go see what Jessamy wanted. Nodding, Noel slid off of him and slipped through the curtain. "Geez, what kind of wake up call is that?" Noel yawned, pretending that she had just woken up.

The brunette didn't seem amused and quickly grabbed Noel's arm. "I need your help."

All Noel did was groan in response and allowed the brunette to drag her into the bathroom. It wasn't a dire emergency it seemed, Jessamy had managed to get a massive chunk of her hair stuck in a brush and needed another pair of hands to help her get it out. "You woke me up for this?"

When Jessamy finally released her, Noel quickly padded back to her bed and found George gone. It was probably better that way, it was getting late and she didn't want him to get in any sort of trouble. Trouble that involved Jessamy, naturally. Trouble was the brunette's middle name, after all. What she did find was a little piece of paper on top of her pillow. Noel picked it up and quickly scanned it over.

_I love you, beautiful. See you at lunch._

_- George_

* * *

_All Student Organizations, Societies, Teams, Groups and Clubs are now disbanded. _

_An Organization, Society, Team, Group or Club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students._

_No Student Organization, Society, Team, Group or Club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor._

_Any student found to have formed, or to belong to an Organization, Society, Team, Group or Club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled._

_Permission to reform may be sought from the High Inquisitor._

_Educational Decree No. 24._

"Well, there goes quidditch." Noel said as she popped a raspberry in her mouth and heard Angelina shout in frustration nearby right on cue.

It wasn't that Angelina didn't try to convince Umbridge to let Gryffindor play quidditch. She had even asked Harry to control his temper around Umbridge. Actually, she asked everyone on the team to control themselves whenever Umbridge was around. It was just lucky that Jessamy wasn't on the team, because she received another detention for talking back in class.

Though they were finally given permission, and on their first practice back, it decided to pour. Playing quidditch in the rain was the worst, not for the fact that you were soaked to the bone in mere seconds, but by the fact that you could never see properly. And even with her hair tied back, Noel hated the feeling of her wet hair matted down against her face. But they managed to make it through and when they were finished, Noel climbed into her bed and refused to emerge for the rest of the night. It was better to be nice and toasty, then to set foot out of bed.

Despite Education Decree No. 24 banning student organizations, those who had met up in the Hog's Head decided to continue with their plan. Even if getting caught meant being expelled. They were told where to go, and once everyone had met up, Noel couldn't help but look around.

The walls of this room were lined with bookcases, though there weren't any chairs around there were big cushions lined up on the floor. On the other side of the room, there were more shelves lined with all types of instruments. This place seemed interesting, though she wasn't exactly sure why she'd never noticed this room before. But this was Hogwarts, there were probably hundreds of secret rooms that most people didn't know about.

Harry Potter stood up and began explaining everything. Where they were, what they were doing and so forth. Then they had to come up with a name for their little group. As Harry was designated the leader for this group, it was ultimately be up to him to decide.

"We should be the Anti-Umbridge League."

"How about Umbridge is a Fat Toad?" Jessamy suggested.

"Nah, I like the Ministry of Magic Are Morons." Fred nodded at Jessamy and she shook her head.

Cho Chang suggested the Defense Association, but Ginny suggested Dumbledore's Army and they'd just call it the D.A. for short. Seemed fitting at the time, at least.

"Right. Let's get practicing, then." Harry said when everyone finally settled down. "I was thinking before. The first thing we should probably do is _Expelliarmus, _the disarming charm. It may seem basic but I've found it to be fairly useful."

Noel rolled her eyes when Zacharias Smith opened his mouth to complain about how he thought that spell wasn't helpful. When Harry retaliated, saying that spell saved his life last summer, Zacharias immediately shut up. "Alright, now that that's done. Split up into pairs and practice."

"I call Noel!" Jessamy shouted and grabbed the blonde, leading here away from Fred and George. "Well geez, Fred. I guess you have to be my partner." George made a face at Jessamy and sulked.

Shouts of _Expelliarmus _were heard all throughout the room. Wands were flying about and you could even hear a few frustrated groans when someone couldn't get the spell quite right. Harry began circling the room, seeing how everyone was doing. When he stopped to see how Noel and Jessamy were doing, he nodded his head in approval. Both girls were easily able to disarm one another, except when Jessamy disarmed Noel, her wand nearly knocked Harry's glasses off his face.

"Sorry, Harry!" Noel said and scrambled to quickly pick her wand back up. Harry waved it off and went to another pair.

For a moment Noel turned around to see Zacharias Smith having trouble with the spell. Every time he'd open his mouth, though no words ever came out, his wand would fly out of his hand. Jessamy stood next to Noel and nudged her arm with her elbow. "Look." She jerked her thumb in the direction of both George and Fred, who were behind Zacharias, both taking turns pointing their wands to his back.

Noel stood there, crossing her arms over her chest. Fred caught the stares from both girls and tapped George's shoulder. "I love you, too!" George waved and the twins quickly left Zacharias alone.

Soon it was past nine and they had to stop. They decided to have their next meeting next week on Wednesday. And they'd just decide what happened after that.

It was particularly difficult to fit in D.A. meetings each week with constant quidditch practices. Make that quidditch practices for three different houses. But what Noel thought to be incredibly clever was what Hermione had come up with. She had devised a way of communicating the time and date of the next D.A. meeting to each member. It was probably better off that way, seeing how it would look suspicious if a bunch of students from different houses were seen crossing the Great Hall and talking too often. Hermione decided on a fake Galleon where the numerals around the edge of the coin would change to show the time and date of their next meeting.

"But what if I'm carrying this in my pocket? How am I going to know if there's a new time set?" Jessamy asked but Hermione was quick to answer. "The coins will grow hot when the date and time's changed. So even if your's is in your pocket, you'll be able to feel it."

"Excellent!" Jessamy responded cheerfully.

"Yeah, now we just need to make sure she doesn't spend her coin on more bows for her hair." Noel mumbled while Fred and George high-fived one another.

"Jerks. Just you wait. You'll all wake up one morning with bows in your hair!" Jessamy shouted.

* * *

It was finally the day of the first quidditch match of the season, Slytherin versus Gryffindor. Noel was in particular, looking forward to it. It'll be her first official game as a chaser and she really wanted to destroy Slytherin. At least destroy Draco Malfoy. Or as Jessamy called him, the 'stupid prat with the greasy hair'.

Especially since the Slytherin team had taken things into their owns hands and trying to hex the Gryffindor players in the hallways. Noel had been walking with Alicia Spinnet one day after another trip to the library when Miles Bletchley shot a curse at the two but Noel managed to duck and the curse hit Alicia instead. "Ugh, piss off!" Noel shouted at the boys and led Alicia to the hospital wing.

"Geez, do you need a bodyguard?" Fred asked when he heard the story from Noel later that day. "Because I'm sure dear George would be happy to guard your body."

"You're gross, you know that?" Anna piped in and made gagging noises.

Thankfully, they'd be able to get this match over with soon. So Noel would have to stop running from class to class to avoid being attacked by anyone from Slytherin.

Angelina had done her best to encourage the Gryffindor team right before the match in the locker room. She went through stating who played what on the Slytherin team, though most of the names were unfamiliar to Noel. But what she couldn't help but notice was Ron. He looked absolutely terrified. And for good reason, this was his very first quidditch game. Noel was sure Angelina was probably more nervous than Ron was, but as long as they were able to work together, the outcome should be positive.

Hopefully.

When it was time, the team propped their brooms on their shoulders and while walking single file, they marched out to the pitch. It was definitely loud this time around, between the cheers and shouts Noel thought she heard singing. It was strange but she couldn't quite make out what the words were. The Slytherin team was eagerly awaiting them, standing there trying to look intimidating. To Noel, they were only intimidating due to their sheer size. Noel was 5'1" and most of the players from Slytherin could easily out-weigh her by seventy pounds. They could easily destroy her but, only if they were fast enough. The one thing Noel had going for her was speed. So if she could stay ahead of them, she had absolutely nothing to worry about.

"Captains shake hands." Madam Hooch asked before Angelina and Montague gripped each other's hands like they were trying to crush one another.

Once Madam Hooch told everyone to mount their brooms, they were off. Noel saw Ron zoom off towards the goal hoops. Angelina was the first to snatch the quaffle, narrowly avoiding a bludger sent her way. She flew towards Slytherin's goal hoops but she was hit from behind by a bludger sent her way from Slytherin.

That's when she heard what everyone had been singing earlier. It was coming from the Slytherin stand.

_Weasley cannot save a thing._

_He cannot block a single ring._

_That's why Slytherin's all sing,_

_Weasley is our King._

Montague managed to let the quaffle slip from his hands and Noel took off and caught it. She could hear Lee Jordan and his usual, colorful commentary as he shouted out her name for all to hear. Warrington came awfully close to knocking Noel off her broom, but a bludger took care of him for her. George grinned at Warrington and sped off once more. Montague seemed to regain himself and was heading for Noel once more but out of the corner of her eye she could see Alicia to her right and quickly reverse passed it to the other girl.

_Weasley was born in a bin._

_He always let's the quaffle in._

_Weasley will make sure we win._

_Weasley is our King._

"You guys are assholes, you know that?!" Noel shouted at Montague when she flew by him. She had stayed relatively close as Angelina attempted to score but failed as Slytherin's keeper caught the quaffle. "That's okay, at least I don't need ladders to reach things." Warrington cackled at Noel.

The singing continued, and it was clearly starting to get to a few of them. Noel wanted to shout in frustration, but she knew that if it showed how much it bothered her, it would bother Ron. And George and Fred. It was incredibly obnoxious.

It was clear everyone was getting frustrated, not only because of the singing from the Slytherin side, but because Slytherin was up twenty to nothing at this point.

After Slytherin scored once more, Noel had possession of the quaffle and took off. They needed to score, they needed to keep morale up. Especially for Ron because as the game wore on, the singing grew louder and louder. The blonde passed it along to Angelina as another bludger flew her way. "Yikes!" She shouted and dove down.

Everything was just happening too fast. The singing was driving Noel mad, and during that time Ron had let two more goals in for Slytherin. If they lost this game, Angelina would never let them live it down. They had to do something and quickly. Alicia had the quaffle and passed it to the nearest person, which was Noel.

This is when her speed was vital. Noel dodged Pucey and even sped by Montague and the unthinkable happened. She managed to get the quaffle past the Slytherin keeper and through one of the hoops. "Honeybourne scores! Slytherin still leads forty to ten." Lee Jordan's voice boomed loudly throughout the pitch.

But that's when everything stopped. She saw it at the last minute, she didn't see it in enough time to dodge it. A bludger smacked her square on the nose, sending Noel toppling off of her broom. She wasn't too far off from the ground, so when she finally hit the ground, it didn't hurt as much. Or it didn't hurt as much because the pain from her nose was much worse than what she felt when she hit the ground. Her hand went up to her nose and when she pulled her hand away, it was covered in blood. Wonderful.

* * *

Everything happened much too fast. George saw the bludger before Noel did and he dove as fast as he could to smack it in the opposite direction. But he didn't make it in time. Noel was hit and down on the ground. George had to keep moving but he was glad to see that even though the blonde was on the ground, she was still moving.

Thankfully Harry Potter managed to catch the snitch, though as soon as he caught the snitch, he too was hit by a bludger, sending him down to the ground. Though he was lucky and got hit on the back and not the nose. When Madam Hooch blew the whistle signaling Gryffindor's victory, the others flew to the ground while Ron looked defeated and headed back to the locker room. George and Angelina were the first to appear at Noel's side. Her head was pounding at this point and she was so sure her nose was broken.

George knelt on the ground next to Noel and placed her face in his hands. "I'm so sorry, Noel." He whispered and frowned. He saw it happen and there wasn't anything he could to do stop it or to prevent it.

"I'm fine." She whispered and closed her eyes. Closing her eyes seemed to be the only thing she wanted to do. "No, you're not." George said as he managed to keep Noel sitting upright.

"She needs to go to the hospital wing." Angelina said gruffly to George and called Katie Bell over. Though she was only a reserve, she still got ready for the team in order to support them. "I got it!" The petite girl said as George helped Noel stand up and Katie wandered off with the injured blonde.

"Aren't you going with her?" Angelina asked George and he shook his head. "Not yet." George turned to the others when Malfoy decided to join in and continue insulting his family. "We wanted to write a few more verses to the song! But we couldn't find anything that rhymed with ugly and fat." Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins laughed.

"We wanted to write a verse about their mother and father, but it was a bit difficult finding something to rhyme with loser-" Malfoy continued egging them on.

Fred had appeared next to George and at this point, they were both seething. "Yeah. I'm glad we were able to at least make one of those stupid Gryffindors bleed. And I love how it was the girlfriend of one of those pathetic Weasley twins." George had his fists balled up at this point and he was doing everything in his power to not pummel Draco Malfoy into the dirt.

Harry stepped forward and told Malfoy to shut up. "Yeah, well, at least she was able to score on you lot. You're just threatened by her."

"Oh, Potter. You like the Weasley's don't you? Always spending your holidays there. You and that pathetic Honeybourne girl. Don't you two have lives? I don't understand how either of you could stand being around those people. It must smell pretty awful." As Malfoy spoke, George crept closer and closer to him. When it looked like he was about to pounce, Harry attempted to hold George back.

"You're all pathetic. Next time we'll break more than your girlfriend's nose." Malfoy sneered but Harry wasn't able to hold onto George any longer. He broke free and after a few more jabs towards Harry's parents, Harry joined in on the brawl.

It also took the combined efforts of Alicia and Angelina to hold Fred back and for now, they were successful.

George didn't remember much about the fight. All he remembered was the constant jabs towards his family and Noel had flipped a switch in him. He didn't care that there were teachers watching, he didn't care that he was going to be in so much trouble for this. Everything was happening in a flash, George could hear people shouting and begging for him and Harry to stop. But he couldn't. George was so tired of people making fun of his family. Sure they may drive him crazy but they were his family and no matter what, he loved them. And then adding Noel into the mix made everything worse.

"_Impedimenta_!" Madam Hooch shouted, instantly separating everyone. George stopped swinging when he knew Malfoy was out of reach and out of the corner of his eye he could see Harry do the same thing. Madam Hooch was shouting at them at this point and all George wanted to do was go after Malfoy again. "I have never seen such behavior like this before! Especially from you two! Go! Straight to your Head of House's office. Right now!" Madam Hooch shouted at Harry and George as they took off towards the castle. McGonagall was going to lose her mind.

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Katie Bell asked Noel when Madam Pomfrey left the room finally.

Noel sat up in one of the dingy hospital beds and closed her eyes. "Do I still have a nose?" She asked.

Katie laughed and adjusted the ice pack on the blonde's nose. "Yes, definitely. You still have a nose."

"Good. I like having a nose." Noel nodded and opened her eyes once more. Madam Pomfrey told her that once the swelling in her nose would go down, she could take a potion and everything would be fine. But for now, she had to stay in the hospital wing as she had a concussion. With a concussion, someone needed to stay by her side for nearly twenty-four hours to make sure nothing happened and to help keep her awake for now. As the evening wore on, she'd be able to get some sleep hopefully.

George had finally run into the room and nearly scared Katie out of her chair. "George!" Katie said when he appeared next to her. "What happened to you?" She blinked, it had looked like he was just in a fight, his hair was pointing in every direction and his face was covered in dirt.

"Long story. Don't ask. How is she?" He asked, clearly out of breath from the running he had just done.

Katie looked over at Noel, who had her eyes closed once again. "Broken nose. Concussion. But Madam Pomfrey said she'll be perfectly fine in a week or so." George thanked Katie and he sat down on the edge of Noel's bed. "I'll come back later." Katie patted George's shoulder and left.

"Hey, beautiful." George whispered, brushing a few strands of hair off of Noel's forehead. She opened her eyes and gave the redhead a small smile. "Hardly. Broken nose. I'm going to rip Malfoy's hair off and make him eat it."

George laughed softly and kissed her forehead.

"Nope. Always beautiful." George spoke softly and brushed the back of his hand along her cheek.

Noel looked to George and finally noticed how rugged and disheveled he looked. Like he'd been in a fight. "What happened?" She asked, leaning forward but immediately regretting it.

George placed a hand on her shoulder and gently moved her back against the pillow. "Nothing, it's not important."

"Not important? It's important. You. You are important." Noel frowned and sat forward again even though George kept trying to keep her from doing so. This caused George to smile and kiss her forehead once more. "If I tell you, you'll morph into that little green rage monster. And we can't have that when you're hurt. Don't want your nose falling off."

Noel protested, saying she wouldn't do anything to hurt herself further. And when George finally disclosed what happened, that he was banned from quidditch for life and had gotten into a fight with Draco Malfoy, Noel closed her eyes once more. "I'm so sorry."

"Why?" He asked, cupping her cheek once more in the palm of his hand. "I love you. And my family. And I can't stand when someone says anything hurtful about them. People have been saying rude things about my family for as long as I can remember. But eventually it just gets to you." Noel opened her mouth to speak but George placed a finger on her lips. "And then there's you. Last year, when I told you I was in this completely, I made a promise to myself. I promised myself that I wouldn't let anyone hurt you. And I am so angry at myself for not stopping that bludger from hitting you." George hung his head this time.

"George." Noel whispered picking up his chin with her fingers. "You are amazing. I don't blame you for what happened. So please, don't blame yourself."

"It's not that just that. It's just, that damn arse Malfoy threatened you. Katie had taken you to the hospital wing and Malfoy seemed giddy with himself for what happened. I won't let him or anyone hurt you ever again."

Noel sighed and leaned forward to kiss George's lips. She had to pull away sooner than she wanted, because her nose hurt but she managed to catch George's smile in time. "But really, banned from quidditch?" She asked and he nodded in response. "Harry and Fred, too." Then he went on to explain Harry's role in the fight and that Fred had been restrained by Angelina and Alicia. "So why the hell is Fred banned?"

"Because Umbridge is a bloody prat." A voice was heard in the doorway to the hospital wing. Fred and Jessamy stood there before walking towards Noel's bed.

"Apparently if he went ballistic then so will I." Fred rolled his eyes and stood at the end of Noel's bed. "We're the same person to her. If one's a threat, the other one is, too."

Jessamy nodded her head. "Yeah, you should've heard what she said. Now I have yet another detention for telling Umbridge to take those brooms that she confiscated from the boys and shove them up her fat behind."

Noel tried so hard not to laugh because it hurt whenever she did, but she couldn't help it. It was nice that people showed up to see how she was doing. Madam Pomfrey eventually shooed everyone away except for George. George had put up a fight in order to stay. The only way Madam Pomfrey agreed to let him stay was that someone needed to be by Noel's side through the night to make sure she was fine. "It's fine if she falls asleep, but she needs to be woken up every half hour. Ask her questions. Anything to keep her alert." Madam Pomfrey instructed. "We'll see how she is in the morning, but I'm sure she'll be free to leave in the afternoon."

As Noel finally got some sleep, George sat by her side. He was still so angry with himself for what happened. It was his job, and Fred's, to keep bludgers away from their teammates. And he hadn't done a good job of protecting Noel. In fifteen minutes, he'd have to wake her up once more. George brushed his thumb along her cheek, hating the thought of waking her up. But for now, he held onto her hand and sighed. "I don't deserve you, Noel Honeybourne."

* * *

**Author's Note: This'll probably be the last update for the week, sorry everyone! I begin my new job tomorrow and with my trip to New York fast approaching, I have loads to do. Not to mention I just found out today that I busted a rim on my car and now I have to take that in and get fixed. But I want to thank you all for reviewing and reading this little story of mine! Thank you shinogirl93, michness and potterphilsosepher for your reviews! Until next time everyone!**


	9. The Wayfarer

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter universe, JK Rowling does! I do however own Noel Honeybourne and random OCs that will appear in this chapter and future chapters. **

**Seventeen's Vow is the second in my series of stories about George Weasley and Noel Honeybourne. The first in the series, Becoming an Adult is Difficult!, can be found in my list of stories and I highly encourage you to read that before starting on this one. It isn't absolutely necessary, but it'll clear up lots of confusion if you read it. This story will begin during the summer of George and Noel's seventh and final year at Hogwarts, and will end once Noel graduates. So please, enjoy the story! And don't forget to read and review!**

**Seventeen's Vow**

**Chapter Nine - "The Wayfarer"**

It didn't take long for Noel to recover after the incident at the Gryffindor versus Slytherin quidditch game. Madam Pomfrey allowed Noel to leave the hospital wing after staying for a whole day. The only downfall were the headaches she got from the concussion. It wasn't the first concussion she ever had, but she forgot how annoying they could be. Thankfully she had George to help her, along with Fred and Jessamy. She even got out of quidditch practice for another week, much to Angelina's dismay. Not that Noel was looking forward to playing quidditch without George, Fred and Harry. Though they already found replacements for them, Ginny replaced Harry as Seeker. And Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper replaced Fred and George as Beaters.

Dumbledore's Army had been going well. Noel found that she was really enjoying the lessons. She had been learning far more than they would be in Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. They had worked on the Impediment Jinx, which was interesting. Once again Noel was paired up with Jessamy and while Jessamy shot the jinx towards Noel, she ended up knocking the blonde flat on her back.

"Oops! Sorry, Noel!" Jessamy bit her bottom lip and hid behind Fred. When Noel got back on her feet, George shook his fist in Jessamy's direction. "Quit breaking her!"

When they moved on to the Reductor Curse, everyone was amazed at how Ginny Weasley seemed to have very little problem with the spell. She and Parvati Patil were able to produce Reductor Curses so powerful that they were able to completely disintegrate a table and a dueling dummy that they had to symbolize a Death Eater.

"Wow." Noel said, her hand down at her side.

"Don't mess with Ginny." George said, looking equally as astonished yet proud of his little sister.

"Why didn't we put Umbridge's face on that dueling dummy?" Fred asked.

Finally they moved on to the Stunning Spell, or stupefy. It's supposed to render the opponent unconscious or halt any moving objects. They had broken off into pairs once more to practice and this time Jessamy chose Fred as her partner.

"You do realize those two will probably blow each other up, right?" Noel asked when George stood by her side. "If they're going down, they'll go down together."

That was their last meeting before the Christmas holiday, so Noel was looking forward to some time off. Though she still couldn't figure out if she was going home for the holidays yet or not. She still hadn't spoken to her mother since that fight at St. Mungo's, and Noel really didn't want to be the first to say anything. She was stubborn and knew she had nothing to apologize for. Noel didn't want to be the first to give in.

George and Fred had been off causing mayhem with products from Weasley Wizard Wheezes while Noel sat in a nearly empty Gryffindor Common Room. George had asked Noel if she wanted to join them, but she declined. It was nearing the Christmas holiday and she had one very large exam approaching in Transfiguration that she wanted to do well on. Noel had just cracked open her book when Anna plopped down next to her on the sofa.

Anna turned to face Noel and began staring at the blonde. "Whatcha studying?" She asked.

A small smile crept onto Noel's face when she looked over at Anna. Anna and Jessamy were very similar, both physically and with their personalities. Both had dark brown hair, dark brown eyes and were very short. Not as short as Noel, but definitely below average. Anna's hair was a good 8 inches longer than Jessamy's, while Jessamy's sat on her shoulders. Anna always had this goofy grin on her face and she was definitely a mischievous little thing. She seemed to have been taking lessons on mischievous actions from Fred and George. Anna was similar to an apprentice of Fred and George. And that could be very dangerous.

Noel held up her _A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration _book and Anna stuck out her tongue. "Yuck. Not my favorite class."

"No? So what's your favorite class?" Noel shut her book and set it on her lap. A little break couldn't hurt, besides, if she ignored Anna things would probably get ugly. More like Anna would use Noel as a trampoline until she paid any attention to her.

"Charms!" Anna said loudly, bouncing on the sofa.

"Oh? How come?" Noel asked and Anna shrugged her shoulders. "Anything's better than that smelly old toad's class."

My how similar Jessamy and Anna were, they both even called Umbridge a toad.

"Can I ask you a favor, Noel?" Anna asked a bit more quietly this time.

Noel nodded and rested her hands on top of her transfiguration book. "Yes but as long as I don't have to beat anyone up for you. Or set their hair on fire. Or anything else remotely dangerous."

Anna shook her head and looked around to make sure no one was watching. "Can you tell Jessamy not to move back to Tokyo?" The younger girl whispered.

Just the look on Anna's face and the way she spoke nearly broke Noel's heart. Jessamy had mentioned that her mother asked her to move back to Tokyo once this school year was over. But she didn't know if her best friend had been seriously considering it yet or not. It wasn't something Jessamy wanted to talk about, much like how Noel didn't want to talk about her mother.

"Why? Do you think she's going to move back?" Noel asked and Anna shrugged her shoulders. "I know mum asked her to. But I don't want her to. I like London loads more than Tokyo. I don't have very many friends there." Anna sulked.

If Noel's heart hadn't begun breaking before, it definitely was now. She sighed and moved her transfiguration book to the floor. Noel held out her arms and almost instantly, Anna latched onto her in a tight hug. "Nonsense. I'm sure you've got a ton of friends."

Noel could feel Anna shake her head. "Here, yes. But not many in Tokyo. I was the weird girl. I set off all those dungbombs for attention you know. It didn't work so well. It's much better here. There's my sister, and you and Fred and George. I like those two." She meant George and Fred.

"Oh yeah? I like them, too." Noel laughed.

Anna shook her head, sitting back in her original spot this time. "You have to say that because you love George."

"I do love him, yes."

"More than anything in the world?" Anna asked.

Noel laughed. "More than anything in the world."

"More than cupcakes?"

"Of course."

"More than adorable fluffy little animals?"

"More than adorable fluffy little animals, Anna."

"Oy! You! Don't you have some homework to do?" Jessamy appeared behind the sofa and shook her head. "You're distracting her from her studies! Which is what you should be doing."

Anna and Noel turned around to look at Jessamy. "Aw, come on!" Anna whined, resting her chin on the back of the sofa.

"Upstairs, study." Anna huffed and slumped her way up the stairs. When Jessamy heard the door to the girl's dormitory close, she sat down on the sofa next to Noel. "Sorry about that."

Noel shook her head and picked up her copy of _A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration_ and cracked it open once more. "You know what Anna said?"

Jessamy blinked and asked what. "She told me to convince you to stay in London. Apparently she's worried she's going to lose her big sister." Noel smiled.

"How does she know about that?" Jessamy smacked her forehead. "Mum must've said something. I don't really plan on moving back to Tokyo. Keywords are don't plan to."

They continued to talk a bit longer. About what they planned on doing after leaving Hogwarts. The possibility of finding a place together, though Noel didn't mention that George asked her to live with him. Apparently Jessamy had an aspiration to become a mediwitch, not because either of her parents wanted her to, but because that's what she wanted to do. "Fred's jaw dropped to the floor when I told him that. He says I'll probably have to be at all of your quidditch matches. So you don't die and George doesn't go batshit crazy."

That is, if she can actually land a spot on a professional quidditch team.

* * *

The Christmas holiday was fast approaching, and the week before it was to begin the snow had fallen once more. Noel finished up her most important exams and only had a few bits of homework to do so she felt it to be fine to mess around in the snow. Playing outside in the snow also gave Noel a distraction from the letter she got from her mother the other day, asking her to come home for Christmas.

In her brightly colored carousel coat once more, Noel adjusted the purple winter hat on her head. It was definitely cold out, but it was better than being inside. Harry and Ron couldn't join them since they literally had mountains of homework to do. And Noel had to stop George and Fred from throwing enchanted snowballs at their window to taunt them.

A massive snowball fight had broken out between Jessamy, Anna and Fred when Noel bowed out of the battle. "Whatever you say, Honeybourne! You're just scared of me!" Fred shouted as he managed to hide behind a stone wall just as Anna tossed a snowball his way. "Oh, that's it!" Noel caved in and hid behind another wall with George.

They had begun packing snow when Noel decided to tell George about the letter she got from her mother. "So, my mum finally sent me a letter."

After tossing a few chunks of snow in Fred's direction, George sat back down. "Really? What'd she say?"

A snowball flew right by their heads, just missing the top of Noel's hat. "Oy! Come on! You can do better than that!" She shouted as she threw a few towards Jessamy and Anna. "She wants me to go home for Christmas."

"Maybe you should go home for Christmas." George said, his back leaning against the stone wall.

Noel blinked in confusion and frowned. George didn't want her around for Christmas? They'd been together for over a year now and this would've been the first Christmas they could spend together. Since last Christmas there was a bit of a misunderstanding that involved June King and her promiscuous ways.

George could see the hurt in Noel's face and he sighed. "I didn't mean that I don't want you around for Christmas." George held his arms overhead signaling a timeout but Fred retorted, "There's no timeout in a snowball fight!"

They could hear Anna giggling and continuing her attack on Jessamy and Fred. That also worked.

"What I meant it as, you can go home and maybe everything will be fine. Maybe your mum won't be mad anymore." Noel looked over at George and frowned. "Okay, and even if she is still mad, we can always come and get you." He had said they would be spending their holiday at Grimmauld Place this time around, not going back to the Burrow.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to go back home. Noel and her mother could possibly work things out. And Bryce would be there, along with Alice and Rory. So Noel wouldn't be completely alone, there'd be others there with her. "Maybe I'll give it a shot, going home."

George smiled and kissed Noel's forehead. "Excellent. It'll do you good, because I know you're still hurt." Noel frowned and tossed a bit of snow in George's direction. "Let's not talk about that right now." Of course Noel was still hurt, but she knew that George was worried about her. "We have a snowball fight to win."

"You mean, I have a snowball fight to win." Anna's voice was heard above them. When George and Noel looked up, Anna was grinning at them. "I win!" She giggled as she dumped a heavy load of snow on top of them.

"Jessamy! I am going to annihilate your little sister!" George shouted in frustration as he felt the snow fall down his shirt.

"Good luck trying! I've been trying for nearly 12 years!" Jessamy shouted back, with a hint of laughter in her voice.

* * *

Noel did make it home for Christmas. And on the very first morning of being there, she got a letter from George.

_Noel,_

_There's been a bit of an issue here. I can't really talk about it much but everything's fine. Fred's telling me it'll be okay if we tell you, since you're at home now. There was an accident with dad, but he's fine. It's why we left so suddenly before break. They wanted to get all of us out of there before a certain toad got wind of what happened and stuck her warts in someone else's business._

_But dad's fine. Just needs plenty of rest. He told me to say Happy Christmas to you, and wishes you could've stayed with us. But I know it's probably better if you didn't with your mum and all. How is that going? Your mum hasn't locked you up in your room yet because Jessamy dyed your hair pink, right? _

_I miss my beautiful lady, and I'll see you soon._

_I love you,_

_George._

Noel continued to lay in bed and placed the letter on her stomach. Right before coming home for the holidays, Jessamy had the genius idea of messing with hair color. Evie joined in and allowed Jessamy to color her hair as well. Though she only dyed streaks in her hair, unlike how Noel had the tips of her hair dyed a light shade of pink. It was perfect, and not permanent. And naturally, Noel's mother freaked out about it.

The only reason Noel's mother didn't pitch an absolute fit was because Bryce was there. Bryce was the favorite child, and Noel didn't despise him for it. It wasn't like he asked for it. Bryce always encouraged and supported his sister, just like their father did. It was always Noel's mother that seemed to have issues with anything.

Noel padded downstairs in her pajamas and found Bryce in the kitchen.

"Nice hair." Bryce laughed as he sat at the kitchen table.

"Haha, you're hilarious. It's just pink." Noel said as she reached for a bowl out of a cabinet.

Bryce set his mug down on the table and shook his head. "No, not that. It's like you went through a hurricane. Your hair is all.." Bryce waved his hands around in the air, indicating that Noel's hair was all over the place.

She laughed and began pouring cereal into the bowl she picked out. "That's completely normal."

As Noel sat at the table to eat her cereal, Alice walked into the kitchen with Rory gathered in her arms. Rory was now five months old and sprouting a full head of blonde curls. "Poor Rory seems to have inherited my mop." Noel said when she finished up her cereal and stretched her arms over her head.

The days leading up to Christmas didn't seem too terrible. Though the thing that annoyed Noel to no end was that her mother was acting like nothing was wrong. Even Christmas day didn't seem bad. The look on Lynette's face when Noel opened the sweater Molly Weasley knit for her said everything, though. "Another sweater from Molly?" Lynette asked as everyone sat in the living room.

"It's a kind gesture." Alton, Noel's father, smiled from his arm chair. "She's awfully creative with those things."

Lynette shot Alton a look from across the room.

"Well, I like it." Alice said as she cradled a sleeping Rory in her arms.

It wasn't until the last day of Christmas break that Noel's mother finally snapped.

"So have you decided that you want to become a healer when you finish school at Hogwarts?" Lynette asked as she stood in Noel's doorway.

Noel had been packing up for her final term at Hogwarts and really wasn't looking forward to getting into it with her mother. "Actually, no."

"What do you mean, no?" Lynette asked as she walked into the room. "I want you to become a healer. I was a healer. Your aunts Lucy and Sophie are healers. Your grandmother was a healer."

This is what drove Noel crazy. It was as if her mother was trying to guilt trip her into doing something she didn't want to do. "I know, mum. But what about what I want to do? I want to play quidditch."

"Play quidditch? And what good has that done you? This year you've broken your nose and received a concussion." Lynette huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You're acting like I've never been hurt before. Especially while playing quidditch. I'm fine, it doesn't matter. I want to do what I want to do, and that's play quidditch." Noel could say this until she was blue in the face, but she wasn't going to get through to her mother. Usually her mother got what she wanted.

"And your hair, if you're going to become a healer, you can't do that to your hair. You have to look professional. It's getting awfully long again." Lynette said but Noel began shouting. "Just stop!" Yes, her hair was getting long again, but that didn't mean she wouldn't land a job because of it. "The hair color is temporary, it'll be gone before school is over. And for crying out loud, I'm going to play quidditch!"

There was a cough that sounded from the doorway and Bryce stood there. "Mum, leave it be."

Lynette opened her mouth to speak but Bryce cut her off. "You let me do what I wanted. So why does it matter what Noel does?"

Noel breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on her bed. Bryce was the one person that usually stood up for her, as did her father but he was at work once again. But Bryce always wanted to become a magizoologist and work with magical creatures for the rest of his life. And their mother supported him from day one. "You can make a career out of what you did, Bryce. But playing quidditch, especially for a girl, just doesn't seem right to me."

"It doesn't matter. I'm playing quidditch, sorry mum." Noel said from her spot on her bed.

Lynette sighed and turned to her daughter. "If that's what you want. I can't say that I support you but you won't be living under my roof when you're done with school. We'll let you come gather your things in the summer, and that's it. Your father will be thrilled to hear that you've made up your mind. I just wish you would've listened to me."

She was really kicking Noel out, she couldn't quite believe it. Though in reality it was probably for the best. She'll be eighteen when she graduates and she should really be living on her own at that point. Noel would've been at peace with the decision if Lynette hadn't continued later on, in retaliation against Noel's pink hair.

* * *

Fred and George had just made it through the portrait hole to the Gryffindor Common Room, bags in hand and Ginny not too far behind them. "So you really didn't hear from Noel at all since Christmas?" Ginny asked when the portrait closed behind them.

George shook his head. "She wrote once before Christmas, but that's it. Is it bad I'm worried?"

"Nah. If something would've happened, you'd be the first person she'd tell." Fred said as they passed the sofa and saw Jessamy sitting there.

Fred spotted his girlfriend and went around the sofa to say hi, that's when he noticed someone else sitting next to Jessamy. It was Noel, with much shorter hair. Noel's hair had been midway down her back but was now just above her shoulders. "Holy shit, Noel. What happened to your hair?"

George and Ginny also did a double take and Jessamy was frantically trying to get Fred to shut his mouth. Either that or she was trying to land a plane with her arm movements.

Noel just glared at Fred from her spot on the sofa.

"Not the smartest thing you've ever said, Fred." Jessamy said with clenched teeth. "And you usually say stupid shit."

"Well, I like it." Ginny said and Noel managed to crack a smile. "Thank you, I guess I needed a bit of a change." Noel said and propped her feet up on the table.

Fred and George exchanged glances then looked down to Jessamy. "What'd you do with my girlfriend?" George asked the brunette.

"Ah, well you see, I locked her up in a cupboard. With this large pile of dirty socks. Some moldy underwear. A few cats. But managed to find this girl here that looked remarkably like her, just with shorter hair. Sorry, George."

Ginny sat down next to Noel on the other side of the sofa and laughed. "Your hair really is nice, though. Who did it?"

"My mum." Noel whispered and ran a hand through her hair. Ever since it was cut, she couldn't help but run her hands through it. It felt so strange, it didn't even touch her shoulders and she didn't realize how much she'd miss it until it was gone. "Well, hair grows back so it's okay."

Something wasn't right. George reached down and grabbed Noel's hand, pulling her up. "Now if you'll excuse us.."

"You'll just go make myself a little niece or nephew, right?" Fred called from the sofa before Ginny smacked him upside the head.

George led Noel into his dormitory, it was thankfully empty since everyone was just now starting to trickle in from their holiday. Noel sat down at the end of George's bed and crossed her legs Indian-style. She knew what he was going to ask, but she wasn't going to be the first to say anything.

"What happened?" George asked, sitting next to her on the bed.

"Nothing." Noel said as she folded her hands in her lap.

George just looked at her and folded his arms over his chest. "Obviously something must've happened to make this happen." He said as he held up one of her much shorter blonde curls between his fingers. Noel loved her hair, most of the time. It wasn't like her to be so spontaneous and chop most of it off without warning, especially when it was still so cold out.

There was no point in telling him the entire story, at least not yet. "Mum got sick of it and sort of got a bit snippy." She shrugged her shoulders. "No pun intended."

With her little snippy pun, George desperately wanted to crack a smile. But he knew she was upset. "So she just..?" George made his fingers move like a pair of scissors in the air and Noel nodded in response. "It's fine though, as I said before, hair grows back and I needed a bit of a change."

"When?"

"When what?"

"When did this happen?" George asked seriously as he pointed to her hair.

Noel sighed and replied, "Yesterday."

There was a moment of silence before Noel asked George how Arthur was doing. "He's doing much better, still needs lots of rest. Did you get your present from mum?" Noel nodded and smiled. "The sweater? Yeah. Though I really need to tell your mum to not make them so big. You can fit three of me in it."

George laughed. "She says you don't eat enough. I think she's trying to fatten you up. Maybe cook you for dinner one night."

Noel turned to George and still had the same smile on her face. "I wouldn't taste very good. Honestly, I'd probably taste like chips and tea. And probably peanut butter. And tacos." That was a horrifically disgusting combination.

"I could say so many things about what you taste like but then that would make me sound like a pervert." George was trying his best not to laugh and he was failing miserably at it. Noel raised her eyebrows and shook her head at her boyfriend.

"But you are a pervert." Noel laughed.

"Naturally."

Noel really didn't want to tell George that her mother was kicking her out at the end of the school year. Even though she was told she'd have time to come home and collect her stuff, it wouldn't be all that surprising if her mother shipped her stuff to the Burrow or just even plopped it in the street. Where was she going to get any money to even live off of straight away? Without any money, she'd have no place to live. Except in a cardboard box on a street. Not even a cardboard box, it'd be more like a pizza box! Oh, she was in heaps of trouble.

"Noel?" George asked, waving a hand in front of the blonde's face. "What's wrong?"

She turned to the redhead and smiled, latching onto his hand. "Nothing. It's our last day of freedom before classes start up. Let's go do something fun." George's grin was wide and with their hands interlocked, they ran out the door.

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry for the eh chapter, as I've said before fillers just suck. But hopefully we won't have anymore of those before this story is finished! I haven't gone through it completely, but Seventeen's Vow will most likely be around 15 chapters, same as Becoming an Adult is Difficult! Now I just have to get through another work shift before I'm off to the city to meet Oliver and James Phelps! Excitement times!**


	10. The Coyote and the Fox

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter universe, JK Rowling does! I do however own Noel Honeybourne and random OCs that will appear in this chapter and future chapters. **

**Seventeen's Vow is the second in my series of stories about George Weasley and Noel Honeybourne. The first in the series, Becoming an Adult is Difficult!, can be found in my list of stories and I highly encourage you to read that before starting on this one. It isn't absolutely necessary, but it'll clear up lots of confusion if you read it. This story will begin during the summer of George and Noel's seventh and final year at Hogwarts, and will end once Noel graduates. So please, enjoy the story! And don't forget to read and review!**

**Seventeen's Vow**

**Chapter Ten - "The Coyote and the Fox"**

"Headless hats!" George could be heard shouting down in the Gryffindor Common Room. He and Fred were down there demonstrating their latest bit of merchandise and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Noel could hear Jessamy's laughter downstairs while she sat on top of her bed. Noel would've been downstairs with everyone else, but she had been upstairs working on her Transfiguration homework. Now that their NEWT exams were fast approaching, most professors were just piling on the homework to get it out of the way. McGonagall was Noel's favorite professor, but if she assigned anymore homework along with studying for their NEWT's, Noel was going to lose her mind.

Though the next morning Noel was able to sleep in just a bit, since she had a free period in the morning. At least she thought she'd be able to sleep in until she was violently shaken awake by Jessamy around 9am. "Up, up, up!"

Noel groaned and attempted to throw her blanket up overtop of her once more. But the brunette wasn't having it and tore the blanket off of Noel. "No! You acting all cute and curling up like a little burrito doesn't work on me! My name isn't George!" Jessamy threw the blanket on the floor while Noel attempted to curl up once more. Though spring was close, it was still awfully cold out, especially in the mornings. "I had an hour left to sleep, why did you wake me up?" Noel asked as she slowly sat up and Jessamy sat down at the end of her bed.

"Because of this." The brunette handed Noel the latest copy of the _Daily Prophet_.

**MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN PRISON**

**MINISTRY FEARS BLACK IS "RALLYING POINT"**

**FOR OLD DEATH EATERS**

"What the hell?" If she wasn't awake before, she definitely was now. Noel continued to read the article that explained that nine wizards and one witch had escaped from Azkaban prison the previous evening. Most of the names sounded familiar to Noel, though she was far too young to remember when any of the crimes they committed had happened. The one name that stuck out was Antonin Dolohov. The caption stated that he was convicted of the murders of Gideon and Fabian Prewett.

Noel looked up from the paper and over at Jessamy. "These two were.."

"Molly's brothers. So Fred and George's uncles." Jessamy finished Noel's sentence.

She sighed and turned her attention back to the paper. Another name that popped out was Bellatrix Lestrange, it stated that she was Sirius Black's cousin and Noel shook her head. "She's a hot mess." The blonde mumbled as she finished up the article and how the Ministry is apparently blaming Sirius Black for the mass break out from Azkaban.

"You know what? And I swear that if you tell Fred any of this, I will smack you upside the head with my shoe." Jessamy started to say. "This actually terrifies me. This is why we're learning to defend ourselves. Because of these morons." Jessamy gestured to the paper and Noel looked back down to each picture staring back up at her. She got a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach, there was definitely something coming. And it wasn't going to go well for any of them.

* * *

Quidditch definitely wasn't the same without George, Fred and Harry. If Angelina had been frustrated with the team before, she definitely was now. Ginny wasn't the problem, she was a fairly good Seeker and Noel was happy to have her on the team. But Jack Sloper and Andrew Kirke as the replacement Beaters were absolutely dreadful. Jack wasn't the brightest crayon in the box and at one point during their latest quidditch practice, he knocked himself out with his own bat. Andrew wasn't much better and Noel needed to get used to the fact that everyone else on the team was going to get pummeled by bludgers from now on.

After dinner, Noel went upstairs to wash off the dirt from practice when Fred and George turned up in the common room. Jessamy and Harry were sitting on the sofa concentrating on homework when Fred spoke up. "Where's everybody? Ron, Ginny and Noel aren't here?"

Harry shook his head. "No, they looked particularly gloomy and all went upstairs to get cleaned up."

"Good because really, practice didn't look good for them. They're going to get slaughtered without us." Fred said matter-of-factly.

George sat down next to Harry and looked to Fred. "Really but Ginny's not that bad. Don't know when she got that good at quidditch. We never let her play with us when we were little."

A voice spoke up behind a large mountain of books and it belonged to Hermione. "She's been breaking into your broom shed since she was six and had been taking each of your brooms out in turn when you weren't looking."

George had his arms crossed over his chest and smiled. "That certainly explains everything. Good for her."

"Has Ron been able to save a goal yet?" Hermione asked as her eyes appeared over her mountain of books.

"He can save a goal as long as he knows nobody's watching him." Fred snorted and continued, "So now all we have to do is make sure we can get the crowd to turn their backs on him every time the quaffle gets near him during Saturday's match." Fred got up and walked to the window. "Honestly, quidditch was one of the few things making me really love being here."

Jessamy closed her book, quite loudly and stared in Fred's direction. "I better be in that equation somewhere, mister."

Fred turned and smiled at the brunette. But Hermione interrupted them. "But you've got exams coming up! NEWT's! That's incredibly important and you both know it." She said as she pointed her index finger between both Fred and George.

"We already told you, we're not that fussy about them. The Snackboxes are ready to roll, we've finally got it all figured out thanks to Lee and his genius idea about the essence of murlap." Fred said and George began to yawn. "You know, if it weren't for Noel I don't think I'd even want to watch this match. I swear if Zacharias Smith beats us, I will maim him."

Fred shook his head and said, "No. Shove him off a cliff. With Umbridge."

"See, this is the trouble with quidditch. It creates all this unnecessary tension between all the Houses." Hermione interrupted once more, but everyone looked at her. Harry, George and Fred all began to stare at her. Jessamy turned to Hermione and shook her head, "Look what you did."

"But it's only a game!" Hermione said loudly.

"You don't really seem to understand quidditch, Hermione." Harry said as he shook his head, adjusting his glasses.

"Hey, you better not tell that to Noel, her head might implode." George said as he looked back out the window and sighed.

"How come?" Hermione asked defensively and George turned back to her. "Because that's what she's decided to do with her life. Quidditch. Kind of like how you're going to do something super brainy. Noel's going to show the world that she's the greatest chaser out there."

Hermione looked at George and after a few seconds, a wide smile appeared on her face. Jessamy caught Hermione's smile and she herself turned to George with a wide smile on her face.

George caught both their faces and furrowed his eyebrows in worry. "What? What'd I say?"

Jessamy and Hermione looked at one another once more, then turned back to George. "Oh, nothing. You're just showing how much you love her." Fred and Harry laughed and nudged George's shoulders. "Aw, my widdle Georgie-poo is all grown up!" Fred said as he ruffled George's hair.

The Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor quidditch game that Saturday was absolutely dreadful. Though thankfully they only had to endure through twenty-two minutes of pure torture before Ginny was able to catch the snitch, causing Gryffindor to lose by only ten points. The final score was Hufflepuff two hundred and forty points to Gryffindor's two hundred and thirty points.

Noel wasn't sure just how long she spent sitting in the Gryffindor locker room, but it must've been long enough since George eventually came looking for her. George walked into the locker room and immediately noticed that Noel hadn't even bothered to change out of her quidditch uniform. She was sitting on a bench and had been staring intently on the floor. "I don't think the floor's going to jump up and start talking to you." George said before he sat down on the bench next to her.

The blonde didn't jump but instead she lifted her head and turned to George. "Didn't think so."

George frowned and wrapped his arm around Noel's shoulders, pulling her against him. "But you did splendid out there. Best chaser around. The chaser all the teams will be dying to have on their teams next year." Noel shook her head and laughed. "If only it would be that easy. It's going to be really hard to find a spot on a team."

"Yes but, you can do it. How many goals did you manage to score today? A few. Definitely had more than Angelina." Noel sighed, she did have a decent game but Gryffindor still lost.

When Noel hadn't responded, George gently shook her. "Come on. Get changed. You and I have a dinner date in the Great Hall."

After changing and telling George numerous times not to peek and him not listening to her, the pair found themselves in the Great Hall for dinner. They were some of the few still in the hall for dinner, since most everyone came up right after the quidditch game, but George and Noel seemed to be alone at the Gryffindor table. They had been joking and having a good time when George suddenly got serious.

"So, I have something important to tell you."

Noel froze in place, her hand in midair while holding onto her fork. "That sounds terrifying."

George smiled and waved his hands in front of him, he had been sitting across the table from Noel. "No, it's nothing bad. I promise."

Noel's eyebrows were still raised and she wasn't entirely sure if she believed him or not. "So Fred and I have a place. For the shop." She nearly dropped her fork onto her plate but managed to set it down in time. "Wait, what? You found a place?" She whispered, though there were still people in the hall, she didn't want to talk too loudly. George nodded and grinned. "Yeah, it's in Diagon Alley. But don't tell Jessamy, because I'm not sure if Fred's told her yet." George said as Noel bounced excitedly in her seat. "I am so proud of you!"

"Oh, you've always been proud of me." George stuck out his tongue and Noel rolled her eyes. "Naturally, but this is exciting! So who else knows?"

"Well, for now just you. And Fred said he'd tell Jessamy soon."

Noel's smile was still on her face and she was too excited to finish eating. "This is amazing."

George smiled back at the blonde. "Did I mention that the place we snagged has a place above it. An apartment. It's pretty tight, but it's got two bedrooms." George was clearly hinting at something and as usual it went completely over Noel's head.

"That's wonderful. I'm so happy. You and Fred found your shop, you two have a place to live. Here you have this part of your life all figured out and all I have is the drive to play quidditch and my mum kicking me out and I don't even know if I'll be able to pass my Potions NEWT." Noel sighed and took a drink from her goblet containing pumpkin juice.

"Wait. What?" George asked, looking at Noel with curiosity. "What did you just say?"

Noel blinked. "What? That I don't think I'm going to pass my Potions NEWT? Snape's being incredibly obnoxious and needs to wash his hair.."

"No, no. Not that. Yes, Snape's hair is really greasy but what did you say about your mum?" George asked once more.

Oh. George had heard that part, didn't he? Noel tried to think of an explanation but wasn't having any luck coming up with anything relatively decent. "That my mum kicked me out?" She whispered and looked down at her plate.

But George hadn't said anything in reply and it made Noel look up and across the table at the redhead. He sat there with a look of absolute frustration on his face. And for a split second, Noel thought he was frustrated with her. Though as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, she knew his frustration wasn't aimed towards her. "Why is she kicking you out?"

It was now or never, though Noel hadn't exactly planned on telling George any of this. She planned on making a quiet exit from her parents house at the end of the school year and not even bother to tell George what really happened. Because she knew he'd be angry about it. And Noel wasn't happy about it either but the more she thought about it, the more she realized she was better off this way. "The whole wanting to play quidditch and not follow in her footsteps as a healer thing. We had a bit of a tiff over the holidays and she told me that once school is over, I have to take my stuff and find another place to stay."

"Well then, that's it. You're staying with me and Fred." George said, tapping his index finger on the table.

"But your mum will probably have a heart attack.." Noel started to say but George cut her off. "Don't worry about it. I'll talk to her.. no, we'll talk to her. I'm sure everything will be fine. Besides, it's my life. Your life. Not anyone else's. We should be able to live it the way we want to. Right?" George was right. Here he was, along with Fred, doing what they wanted to do. Not something their parents wanted. Now Molly and Arthur weren't exactly _thrilled_ with the direction their twin sons were heading in, but they were still happy for them. They still supported their children. And that's why Noel had to admire Arthur and Molly. They had seven children yet still managed to raise them all, okay six of them, to be wonderful and caring people. But somehow people can screw up with just two children to tend to.

"Okay." Noel simply stated.

George blinked at her and said, "Okay what?"

"Let's do this. But on a few conditions." Noel said and it clicked in George's mind what she meant. He nodded and smiled. "Depends on the conditions."

Noel rolled her eyes and held up her index finger. "One, I know you and Fred are slobs. I can't be the only one that knows how to clean up after themselves."

George laughed. "You just might be the only one who can clean up after themselves. I've seen your room. Not a shoe out of line! Not a picture frame askew!" Noel heaved a heavy sigh and glared at George for making fun of her. "Okay. What else?"

"Two," Noel held up two fingers this time. "No, I will not be making you food at three in the morning." And Noel added another finger before George could retaliate. "And finally, don't be a blanket hog. But who am I kidding with that one."

Maybe all of this was sudden, but Noel felt it was right. _Everything happens for a reason_, she thought to herself. And by the time they actually moved in together, it would be late in the summer, giving them plenty of time to figure something else out if need be. If George ended up changing his mind, which Noel hoped he wouldn't, or if Molly Weasley threw a fit, Noel would be able to figure something else out. "You sure this is what you want?" Noel asked George from across the Gryffindor table.

"Yes." George said without any hesitation. "If your mum wants you out, I'd rather you be close to me with everything that's been going on lately." George was hinting at the Death Eaters breaking out of Azkaban prison the previous week. "Who knows what's going to happen and I'd feel much better knowing your safe. Besides, you'll be a much better person to share a room with than Fred."

Noel felt her cheeks warm up. "Why do you say that?"

George smiled at her and reached for her hand across the table before answering. "Because I'd much rather wake up and see your face every morning. Not his ugly mug from across the room."

Noel laughed and held onto George's hand. "Oh, George? You do realize you and Fred are identical, right?"

* * *

D.A. meetings were still something Noel looked forward to each time she sat in Defense Against the Dark Arts. She enjoyed the fact that she was actually learning something, and Harry was getting much better at teaching them. They had a bit of a rough start, since nobody knew what they were doing. But they finally moved onto the Patronus Charm, which was something Noel was really looking forward to. They'd attempted them in previous D.A. classes, but Noel was never able to produce one before.

They had been standing in separate groups, all trying to produce a visible patronus. Noel was in a group with Fred, George and Ginny. She could hear a frustrated Jessamy finally shout with excitement as she was able to produce a full patronus for the very first time. "Shit, finally!" She shouted happily as her patronus took the form of a cat and Noel watched it roam the room.

"Shit, Jessamy, there's little kids around! Don't swear!" Fred shouted and it caught Jessamy off-guard and her patronus disappeared, leaving a wisp of silvery light behind. "Damn it, Weasley!"

Noel looked over at George, who was also struggling with the charm. "I'm glad we're not like those two." She laughed and George smiled.

"Try to think of the happiest you've ever been. Remember it, and think about it. It has to be a happy memory, but it could be anything. Once you put your mind to it, you can do it." Harry was saying as he wandered around the room. Plenty of others had gotten the hang of it and managed to produce a fully corporeal patronus, though it was clear most couldn't even conjure an incorporeal one.

Harry stopped over next to Noel and watched her fail miserably at another attempt. "Perhaps you should change your thought? Something a bit happier, maybe?" He asked her and the blonde had to think. It wasn't exactly easy trying to come up with something, there were plenty of happy moments in her life. Most of them involved George, but others involved her family, mainly Bryce. She thought about it and came up with one. "Have a better one?" Harry asked her and Noel nodded. "Okay, try again."

A few seconds went by and Noel didn't even realize she'd actually conjured a patronus until George said something. "What exactly is that?" Fred pointed in the air at a whispy, silvery looking animal. "Looks like a fox, sly move there, Honeybourne!"

It was enough to distract her and the fox quickly disappeared. "Nice one, Fred." Jessamy said as she appeared next to her boyfriend. "You managed to completely crush two patronuses today. A cat and a fox."

Harry patted Noel's shoulder. "Good job. Not perfect, but it's progress! Now you two," He pointed to Fred and George. "Need a bit more help." The twins groaned and Noel laughed. She watched Harry try to show them the proper way, they'd even come close quite a few times. For an instant you could see an animal take shape from George's wand but quickly disappear. Harry decided to end class there, telling them they'd continue where they left off next time.

When Noel turned back around, she could hear George and Fred arguing over what animal George's patronus took the shape of. "It looked like something strange. But thankfully it wasn't Umbridge." Fred said.

"Thankfully not Umbridge. It looked more like a wolf or coyote." George replied just as Noel walked up next to him. "It was a coyote." The blonde said as Harry had the three of them leave the Room of Requirement next.

"Are you sure it wasn't Umbridge?" Fred asked once more George groaned. "Come on now, we had dinner not too long ago. I'd prefer not to vomit everywhere."

* * *

Quite a bit of time passed before Noel got a snippet of news from her family. It was nearing her eighteenth birthday at the end of March when she received a letter from her brother, Bryce. The seal on the back looked a bit messed up, but Noel figured it was just because of it's travel. She was sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall when she read what Bryce had to say.

Fred and Jessamy were seated across from Noel and George, they were whispering amongst themselves. Evie had joined them today and was sitting on Noel's other side. Evie peered over Noel's shoulder and began reading the letter for herself.

"Nosy, much?" Jessamy asked and Evie grinned. "Yes, but that just means I know important things before any of you do."

"The hell?" Noel whispered as she folded up the letter and shoved it back in the envelope.

George turned to the blonde and asked, "What?"

"I'm going to be an aunt again." Noel said softly and Jessamy smacked the table, quite loudly naturally. "Geez! What? Is your brother a rabbit or something?!"

"Let's hope not because if he is, then Noel must be one, too. Say, George. Are you sure she doesn't have any long pointy ears under that mop of curls?" Fred asked as George laughed. "Not sure, let me check." George ran his fingers through her hair, and Noel decided to not retaliate. She had plenty of time for that later. "Don't feel anything out of the ordinary but, ah! Something's got me!" George shouted, pretending that Noel's out of control hair had decided to devour his hand.

"Haha, very funny." Noel rolled her eyes and continued on with her breakfast.

George slipped his hands out of Noel's hair and leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I love you, too."

Moments later Umbridge began making her way down towards the professor's table in the Great Hall. She stopped for a moment right behind Noel. "Hmm-hmm." She made the shrill noise, causing Noel, Evie and George to turn around. Fred and Jessamy were already facing Umbridge. "Lovely day, isn't it?" She spoke to the group, that vile false smile spread widely across her face. Noel could feel her breakfast climbing up her throat.

Nobody answered her, so she adjusted her coat quickly. "I just wanted to say, congratulations on the news that you'll be an aunt again, Miss Honeybourne." She tilted her head and smiled once more before moving along down the row towards the professor's table.

There was silence amongst the five before they all looked at one another. "Wait. I just found out. How does that bat know I'm going to be an aunt again?"

Noel flipped the envelope over again and noticed the seal. It took a few seconds for her to realize that Umbridge had been reading everyone's mail. "Ugh. Toad obviously read my letter. That's why the seal is broken." She sighed and George snatched the envelope out of her hands.

"You know." Fred said with a mouthful of food from across the table. "I bet Umbridge doesn't even know how babies are made." Jessamy snorted on her pumpkin juice and began laughing uncontrollably. "No, really! Think somebody should go tell her how?"

"Honestly, if you say the word penis in front of her, she might freak out." Evie said as she finished her breakfast.

Fred mumbled under his breath, "Nah, because I bet you she has one."

* * *

**Author's Note: This chapter took a bit longer because I was up in NYC last weekend meeting the Phelps twins! And let me tell you, it was AMAZING. Thankfully I got there earlier than expected [thanks, train!] and was able to meet them shortly after 11am! They were wonderful and I had an amazing conversation with Oliver since the girl behind me was hogging James to herself. Apparently we both enjoyed each other's accents, haha. I'm so glad I got that wonderful experience, were any of you able to go? **

**Also, thank you to everyone who reviewed not only the last chapter but the one before it! I forgot to give shoutouts in the last chapter. So thank you michness, jessiek23 and potterphilosepher! You guys are awesome, as usual. **


	11. Encouragement to be Irresponsible

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter universe, JK Rowling does! I do however own Noel Honeybourne and random OCs that will appear in this chapter and future chapters. **

**Seventeen's Vow is the second in my series of stories about George Weasley and Noel Honeybourne. The first in the series, Becoming an Adult is Difficult!, can be found in my list of stories and I highly encourage you to read that before starting on this one. It isn't absolutely necessary, but it'll clear up lots of confusion if you read it. This story will begin during the summer of George and Noel's seventh and final year at Hogwarts, and will end once Noel graduates. So please, enjoy the story! And don't forget to read and review!**

**Seventeen's Vow**

**Chapter Eleven - "Encouragement to be Irresponsible"**

In the proceeding weeks, Umbridge went on her usual rampage but this time took it to another level. She decided to sack Professor Trelawney, and even attempted to kick her off school grounds. Though thanks to Dumbledore, Trelawney wasn't completely kicked out, but he found a replacement for her. A centaur, and the look on Umbridge's face was incredibly priceless.

"I'm telling you, she's got a penis." Fred mumbled again and Jessamy smacked his arm. "I need these images out of my head."

Thankfully they still had D.A. meetings to look forward to, and their continuation on the Patronus charm that most of them were still struggling with.

They were in their latest class, Harry was once again walking around and offering help to those that needed it when they heard the door open and suddenly close. No one was there, at least nobody that they could see right away. Harry had been with Jessamy and Noel when the three of them looked down to see a House Elf tugging on Harry's robes. "Hi, Dobby!" Harry said, "What's wrong?"

Everyone around them was silent at this point. Dobby's eyes were enlarged and he was shaking. Something had obviously spooked him. "Harry Potter, sir." His voice was shaky, much like his body at that point. "Harry Potter, sir. Dobby has come to warn you. But we were warned not to tell you.."

That's when Dobby made a beeline for the nearest wall and slammed himself into it. He toppled over and landed on the countless hats he had been wearing on top of his head. Noel watched in complete confusion, her hand covering her mouth as she did so. Harry must be used to these actions because he bent down and held Dobby by his arm as a way to restrain himself. "Dobby, warn us about what? What happened?" He asked once again.

"Harry Potter, sir. She.. She.." Dobby's voice was still shaking. He attempted to punch himself in the nose but Harry caught his fist in time. "Who is she, Dobby?"

But Dobby didn't answer. It must've clicked inside Harry's mind because Umbridge suddenly came to mind. "Do you mean, Umbridge?" He asked and everyone else in the room grew dead silent. You could hear a pin drop it was so eerily quiet. Dobby nodded in response and after trying to hurt himself once more, Harry spoke up. "What about her? Has she found out about us? The D.A.? All of our meetings?"

Dobby didn't need to say anything, his face said everything. Harry frowned. "Is she coming now?"

"Yes, Harry Potter, sir! Yes, she's coming!" Dobby yelled loudly.

Umbridge was on her way. They were caught. Noel stood there frozen, Jessamy to her right. She knew George and Fred were directly behind them, she could feel George's hand press itself against the small of her back. What was going to happen next? Umbridge was probably going to expel all of them. And Noel was so close to graduating. That'll just be another tally mark to add to the reasons her mother was disappointed with her. First not wanting to become a healer, but being a professional quidditch player. Then getting expelled from Hogwarts just before graduating.

That's when Harry stood up straight and turned to everyone else in the room. Everyone stood there, motionless and unsure of what to do next. "EVERYBODY, RUN!" He shouted just before everyone went into panic mode, shuffling towards the only exit.

It was a traffic jam at the door, though once they managed to get a few people out, everyone swarmed and ran off in opposite directions. They hopefully had a bit of time before Umbridge appeared, but that didn't stop Noel from running like the pink toad was right behind her. It was only a few minutes before nine, so when they thought they ran far enough, they began to slow down. No one seemed to be following them, so they decided to walk up the final staircase to the portrait at Gryffindor Tower.

"We're not the first ones back, are we?" Noel asked as they stepped into the Common Room and she immediately collapsed on the sofa. Running all the way from the seventh floor to Gryffindor Tower probably wasn't the greatest idea. "Seems like it." Jessamy sighed heavily and collapsed right on top of Noel.

"Oof!" Noel breathed out and groaned. "A little help here?" She asked but only heard Fred and George laugh. The portrait swung open and revealed Ginny, Neville and Seamus. Once they spotted Jessamy and Noel on the sofa, Ginny laughed. "Don't even want to know."

"Can't. Breathe. I think she broke a few ribs!" Noel whined and decided to roll over, rolling Jessamy onto the floor. "Much better."

"Hey!" Jessamy yelled from the floor and everyone laughed. "That wasn't fair! You act like I weigh as much as a hippo!"

"And neither was breaking my ribs." Noel retorted.

* * *

**By Order of the Ministry of Magic**

**Dolores Jane Umbridge has replaced Albus Dumbledore **

**As Head of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

_The above is in accordance with _

_Educational Decree No. Twenty-Eight_

"That's it. I quit." Jessamy said as they stood just outside of the Great Hall. Though they'd all been caught just last night during their D.A. meeting, rumor had been floating around that the Ministry had tried to get Dumbledore to cooperate with them. Though naturally, that wasn't happening and he took off. "I heard Umbridge tried to get into Dumbledore's office last night. Apparently it's sealed itself off from her." Noel said as she stood beside the brunette.

"Good, smart office." Fred said from behind them.

"I hear she had a tantrum since she couldn't get into the office. I'd love to see that." George smirked.

"I'd love to just give her a swift kick in the pants." Jessamy grumbled but Noel grabbed her arm. "Come on, we're going to be late for Potions." George frowned and watched the two girls walk off down the hallway.

"You haven't told her yet, have you?" Fred asked as he nudged George's side with his elbow.

George sighed and looked at his brother. "And you haven't told Jessamy yet, either. What we talked about last night."

Both boys heaved heavy sighs and shook their heads. "You do realize they're going to kill us when we tell them, right?" George said and Fred shrugged his shoulders. "Yes, but, there's only so much you can do, dear Georgie. Though I don't think they'll be the ones killing us."

They heard voices nearby and upon investigating, they saw Harry, Ron and Hermione standing in front of the House hourglasses. And Gryffindor was losing points by the second. "Ah, so you've just noticed, have you?" Fred said when he and George approached the trio.

"Stupid Malfoy just docked Gryffindor fifty points." Harry said as he gestured to the Gryffindor hourglass as it lost a few more pieces. "Yeah, well, Montague tried to get us earlier." George said.

Ron stared at his brothers. "What do you mean by try?"

"You see, he couldn't quite get the words out." Fred paused before continuing. "Because we managed to shove him into a Vanishing Cabinet somewhere on the first floor."

Hermione raised her hand over her mouth and gasped. "But you two will be in so much trouble for that!"

"Nah, not until Montague actually appears. And that could be a few weeks. Dunno where we managed to send him." Fred shrugged his shoulders, his voice cool. "It doesn't matter anyways, we've decided we don't care about getting into trouble anymore."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Since when did you two ever care about getting into trouble?"

"Of course we have." George retorted. "Never been expelled, have we?"

"We always knew where to draw the line." Interrupted Fred.

"Though we might've put a toe across it occasionally." George continued.

Fred tapped a finger to his chin. "We've always stopped just short of causing any real mayhem, though we would've liked to."

Ron was skeptical. "But how?"

"Well now dear little brother you see," George began.

"With Dumbledore gone," Fred said as the two of them began finishing each other's sentences. "We reckon just a bit of mayhem," George grinned as Fred finished, "Is exactly what our new Headmistress deserves!"

Hermione shook her head and shouted. "But you two can't! She'd love a reason to expel the both of you! Honestly, I can't even begin to fathom how Noel and Jessamy remain completely sane with the both of you."

"Oh, they're both completely insane." Fred rested his hand on Hermione's shoulder, frowning. "But you don't seem to get it, Hermione. We don't really seem to care about staying here anymore. Honestly, if it weren't for two lovely ladies and wanting to get back for Dumbledore, we'd walk right out of those doors this very second."

Fred and George both looked down to check their watches. "Phase one is about to begin shortly. You three better head into the Hall, so it doesn't look like you had anything to do with it." Fred said and Hermione looked around anxiously. "Have anything to do with what?"

"Oh, you'll see." George said as he waved to the trio before he and Fred took off.

* * *

Once Potions class ended, there was all sorts of chaos going on in the hallways of Hogwarts. Crates of enchanted fireworks were going off and Noel didn't even need to ask who was behind it. Her boyfriend and his twin brother. She had looked for the two of them in their usual hiding spots but couldn't seem to find them. Having since given up, Noel found herself up in her dormitory. It was empty, aside from her, so she thought it would be the perfect time to take a nap.

That was, until she heard the door to her dorm open and George appeared. "Hey." He said as he closed the door behind him. Noel smiled and patted an empty spot on her bed for George to sit down on. "Uh oh, what's wrong? I know that face. It's the, I've been incredibly devious and need to confide in someone, face."

George sat down on the end of Noel's bed and turned around to face her. But he wasn't saying anything. Instead he had his head down, his fingers idly picking at Noel's fluffy purple blanket. Normally she would just think to herself that she should've made her bed properly that morning, but George's silence was beginning to unnerve her. "George?" She whispered and gently placed her hand on top of his knee.

"Nothing's the matter." He responded, still picking at the purple blanket.

"Liar." Noel replied and forced the redhead to face her by placing her fingers underneath his chin. "You know you can tell me anything, right? Except if you're a girl. Which by the way, I definitely know that you're not a girl. Which is good because I don't swing that way."

George managed to crack a small smile at Noel's words. "There we go. There's that smile I love so much. Now, what's bothering you?"

He shook his head and opened his mouth a few times, but the words just didn't come out. Noel raised an eyebrow and gently nudged his knee with her hand. When he finally did speak, it only caused Noel to panic. "I just don't know how to say this."

_Oh shit, he's breaking up with me. He doesn't want to live together after we graduate. He doesn't even want me in his life anymore. What did I do wrong? Was it saying 'I love you' first? Was it because we decided to move in together? Did I put my hair up wrong? Do I smell like BO?_

"And no, I'm not breaking up with you, I can see the wheels spinning in your head, going into overdrive." George said quietly. But those words didn't exactly calm Noel down. Her heart was racing, and if he didn't want to break up with her, then what did he want?

"It's a surprise. But, for now," George said as he extended his hand out for Noel to grab onto. "You and I are spending this evening together. Not with Fred. Not with Jessamy or Anna. Just you and me."

This was incredibly strange. George obviously wasn't telling her something fairly important. Aside from his words, it was easy to read it on his face. And normally he wasn't one to beat around the bush, he flat out told things how he saw them. Noel looked down at his hand and instinctively took it. "Is whatever it is a good surprise or a bad one?" She asked him and he smiled, saying nothing.

"Alright then, if you and I are spending the evening together, what do you have planned?" Noel asked and George slid off of her bed, once again offering the blonde his hand. "That is also a surprise. But you'll only find out if you join me on an adventure."

Though he was being incredibly cryptic, Noel also slid off of her bed and took his hand. "I have no other choice but to trust you, do I?"

"You've always trusted me, Noel Honeybourne. Come along now, beautiful." He smiled at her and gently tugged on her arm.

Whatever was bothering George was still a complete secret to Noel. And whatever it was, had been enough to make George go through way too much trouble for her. Since it was finally getting a bit warmer out, they spent the rest of their afternoon outside, just laying in the grass. Reminiscing of their first few years as friends, back when George wasn't so much taller than Noel, back when Noel felt like she didn't need a step ladder just to look into his brown eyes. Since then, George had grown much taller, gotten a lot stronger and his sense of humour didn't once change. Noel also hadn't changed much, she hasn't grown since their first years at Hogwarts, her hair was the only noticeable thing that managed to change. Though usually long and full of bright, funky colors, it was now just touching her shoulders and obnoxiously blonde.

They reminisced about their first few quidditch games and practices together. Or the times when Noel would be at the Burrow, playing quidditch with all the Weasley boys. They would all complain, Fred and Ron especially, that they could never keep up with Noel. Her size compared to the others helped make her much faster than they were.

"Remember when you were terrified to meet my mum?" George asked and Noel laughed, remembering it like it was only yesterday. "Yes! Because I was meeting my best mate's mum and didn't know how'd she react to her son being best mates with a girl!"

"A girl who was at least a foot shorter than me." George reminded her.

But the encounter was anything but terrifying. Molly was ecstatic that her twin sons found someone relatively sane to be friends with. "And she was so happy that you didn't have this knack for blowing things up. Especially toilets."

Noel loved going to the Burrow on holidays. It was so much better than being in her own house by herself. "How about that time you sent those gnomes after Percy but they turned on me instead!" The blonde laughed and George grinned. "Yeah, that was Fred's fault, he thought it would be hilarious. That and he'd recently discovered I fancied you. He just wanted to see how I would react to it."

They continued laughing with one another until the sky grew dark. It wasn't nine o'clock yet, but they'd be in heaps of trouble if they were caught outside at this time of night. "Come here." George whispered as he got to his feet, helping pull Noel up with him. "We should be getting inside, Umbridge would have a field day if she found us out after dark."

George waved it off and led Noel just beyond the courtyard. Now that the sky was dark, the moon was shining brightly in the sky. It wasn't a completely clear night, but a few stars shone brightly through wisps of clouds. George stood directly in front of Noel and wrapped an arm around her waist. With his other hand tightly woven against one of her own, they slowly began to sway to music only they could hear in their heads. Noel was still incredibly confused, but all of this was so nice. She let her head rest against his chest and sighed. Whatever was happening, Noel knew one thing.

She'd always love George Weasley, no matter what.

* * *

When they made it back to the common room, Noel went to her dorm to quickly change while George waited downstairs. She opened the door to her dorm and saw Jessamy laying face-first on her bed.

"Making out with your bed again?" Noel asked the brunette as she flipped open her trunk. After rummaging through her trunk, she found her long striped hooded cardigan and slipped it on. Jessamy groaned and Noel turned to her. "What's wrong?" The blonde asked and Jessamy rolled over onto her back. "What do you think is wrong?"

Noel was confused so she sat down on the edge of Jessamy's bed. "Uhm. You're mad because it's only Tuesday?" Tuesday was definitely better than a Monday, at least.

"No. You know why I'm mad." Jessamy said, still laying flat on her back.

"Obviously I don't. Fill me in." Noel asked and Jessamy sat up. "So George didn't tell you?"

Noel stared blankly at her best friend. She was definitely missing something here. First George had attempted to tell her something, then backed out. Now Jessamy was trying to tell her something. "What the hell is going on?"

"Your boyfriend lost his balls, that's what's going on." Jessamy rolled her eyes but then caught herself. "Okay. Not that way. But Fred made me swear not to tell you. Said you'd flip your curly mop when you found out."

Sighing heavily, Noel ran a hand through her hair. "Seriously, what the hell is going on?"

Jessamy just sat there for a moment, staring at her best friend. Noel was going to murder her when she found out, but then she was going to find George and maim him. And then in turn, Fred would be angry with Jessamy for even blabbing in the first place. But Jessamy was still angry with Fred, so it didn't matter at that point. "Fred and George are leaving Hogwarts."

_Fred and George are leaving Hogwarts._

_Fred and George are leaving Hogwarts._

Noel shook her head, holding up her right hand. "Hold on. Repeat." She was so flustered she couldn't even formulate proper sentences. And Jessamy repeated herself, "They have some master plan to get back at Umbridge and rather then be expelled, they're just.. leaving. Vamoose."

So that's what George had wanted to tell Noel earlier. He was going to tell her he was leaving. But the thing was, he hadn't told her. Noel had to find out from Jessamy. George was leaving Hogwarts. He was going to just leave Noel behind. Surely she wouldn't be completely alone, there was Jessamy. And Evie and Ginny. But they weren't George.

_Fred and George were leaving Hogwarts._

* * *

When Noel went upstairs, George plopped down on the plush red sofa next to Fred. "So, how'd it go?" George asked Fred and he frowned. "Peachy. Wonderful. Splendid."

George turned to Fred and sighed. "So in other words, dreadful. Horrifying. Horrendous. Appalling."

"Bingo." Fred said, propping his feet up on the table in front of them. "You didn't tell Noel, did you?"

George didn't speak but Fred spoke up again. "Who am I kidding. She looked positively peachy before she went upstairs. I'm guessing that you didn't."

The twins sat there in silence before they quickly turned to one another. "Wait. You said Jessamy's upstairs." George said.

Fred raised his eyebrows. "And Noel just went up there but she doesn't know anything."

"GEORGE GIDEON WEASLEY." Noel's voice boomed from the top of the stairs. George immediately froze in place and quickly thought of a place to hide. But he wasn't quick enough. Noel came barreling down the stairs and stopped just as she reached the bottom step. "You're WHAT?!"

"I think that answers your question, dear George." Fred whispered as he nudged his brother off of the red sofa.

When George approached Noel, her chest was heaving, her hands were balled up into fists at her sides. This could get incredibly dangerous, because these were all signs the angry green rage monster wanted to make an appearance. "Let me explain." George said as he attempted to lead Noel back up the stairs and towards his dormitory. Right in the middle of the Gryffindor Common Room was not where he wanted to have this conversation. Naturally, Noel struggled against him the entire way up the stairs and into his room. But he managed to get her into his room and the door shut behind him.

"What's going on?" Noel whispered softly, which was a nice change of pace from her shouting earlier.

George sat down on his bed and motioned for Noel to join him.

But she didn't. Noel stood a few feet away from him, by his desk, with her arms crossed defensively over her chest. "George. Jessamy told me that you're leaving Hogwarts. That you're going to cause all of this mayhem and just leave. You're going to leave me behind and you'll fly off to some wonderful life." Noel was trying desperately not to cry, and so far she was able to succeed. "Is it true?"

There was a long pause. It was the longest pause in Noel's life. She could've sworn she heard her own heart beating rapidly in her chest.

"It's true." George said and looked up at Noel. "But it's not like that -"

"But you're leaving. You didn't even say anything to me. Were you just going to leave and not tell me? Was I just going to wake up one morning and find that you up and left?" Noel said, her hands still balled up at her sides in frustration.

"I wasn't just going to up and leave without telling you. I was going to tell you."

"When? When were you going to tell me? Right before you left?" Noel asked and George just sat there. His actions told her everything, he wasn't going to tell her he was leaving until the moment before he actually left.

"Noel." George said as he rose to his feet, taking a few steps closer to the blonde. "I have to do this. I can't stay here like this. Not with that Toad running amuck. This isn't my calling, school obviously isn't for me."

"But you're smart, George. And we're all so close to finishing. How many months do we have? Just a little over two?" Noel kept her arms crossed over her chest as George walked closer to her.

He shook his head, wanting to desperately reach out for the blonde but he wasn't sure how she'd take it. "School doesn't matter anymore. The shop'll be up and running soon. And I don't have to finish school in order to run it."

That's when Noel couldn't hold back anymore, the tears had slowly begun rolling down her cheeks. "School doesn't matter anymore? Does that mean that _I_ don't matter anymore, George?"

Seeing Noel crying was ripping George's heart apart. And he was the one who caused it all. "No, that's not what I'm saying. You, Noel Honeybourne, mean everything to me. You mean the world to me, as cliché and sappy as that sounds, it's all true."

His words only made her tears fall more frequently. As George reached his hand out for her, Noel backed away. "George, I love you. I just.. I just can't believe this. You were going to leave and not tell me. Please, just don't." She managed to get out between her sobs. When George stepped closer to her, Noel opened the door. "Just, don't." Was all she said before she ran down the hallway to the girl's dormitory. George just stood there as Noel slammed the door loudly behind her.

There was absolutely no way that this was over. Not by a long shot. "I'm not giving up on you, Noel." George whispered to himself

* * *

Over the next few days, Noel did nothing but mope around. She went to her classes, sat around her dorm, and rarely made an appearance at meal times. Jessamy at least went down to the Great Hall to eat every once in a while, though she'd quickly stuff some food into her bag and take it up to Noel later. George and Fred had steered clear of the girls, that was until Jessamy approached the pair of them one morning just before lunch began.

"Really, you broke her. You broke Noel. I think she's permanently attached to that bed. She's a lump!" Jessamy said as she jabbed her finger into George's chest. "Now I can get over this, because really this loon would be completely lost without me." Jessamy said as she waved her hand towards Fred, who only nodded in agreement.

"But, good sir. I have an idea that can just maybe, get her to come see you before you two jerks leave."

The next day was the first day back from the Easter holiday, and Noel was on her way back from yet another trip to the library. NEWT exams were creeping closer and closer, so it didn't seem like the studying was going to let up any time soon. Jessamy had asked Noel to meet up with her after the brunette's Divination class and Noel waited right in the spot that she was told. The minutes ticked by and there was still no sign of Jessamy. Noel was about ready to just turn around and head back up to Gryffindor Tower when she saw George standing a few feet away from her.

George was standing there not wearing his uniform, but instead had on that orange and yellow striped shirt he was so fond of wearing, and those awful pants with the patched knees worn down by wear. This must mean he was really leaving, he was really going to leave Noel behind.

She froze right where she stood, and she could feel her heart thud against her chest. Noel hadn't spoken to George since their fight last week and she was convinced they would just end up breaking up. But she knew she couldn't be without him. George was the one person who never told her what to do, he always put her needs before his. Except for this one time. Stupid Jessamy had tricked her into meeting George right before he made his escape. She knew she shouldn't have agreed to this.

"Noel, please. Listen to me." George said as he walked towards her, and this time, Noel didn't back away. She decided that if she had no other chance to see George, she couldn't run away from him now. There was no telling the next time she'd be able to see his face. Or hear his voice. Or even be able to feel his arms wrapped tightly around her.

George took it as a good sign that Noel hadn't backed away and stepped closer. "You know I love you, right?"

Thankfully the corridor was empty, because Noel could feel the tears welling up in her eyes once more. And she'd been doing so well, she hadn't cried yet that day and now she ruined it. The blonde couldn't formulate the words she wanted to say, so all she could do was nod in response.

George caught Noel's arm in his hand and pulled her against him. Noel dropped her backpack onto the ground with a thud and wrapped her arms around his waist. She still couldn't believe that he was leaving her. George was going to leave her for the last months she'd be attending Hogwarts. He wasn't going to be there for her during NEWT exams. He was going to be there to make sure she didn't yank all of her hair out because studying was more stressful than usual. He wasn't going to be there to see her last quidditch game for Gryffindor.

"I could go with you, you know. Right now." Noel whispered against George's chest.

His breath caught in his throat and George gently pushed Noel away from him. His hand cupped her cheek, brushing away the stray tears that still fell from those incredibly green eyes of hers. "No. You belong here. You have to finish school. There's only two months left. I know you can do it." George said, smiling softly.

Noel quickly shook her head. "No. I don't need to be here. If I'm going to play quidditch, there's no point in me finishing school. I can just go with you and Fred."

"Noel." George whispered, leaning down so he could press his forehead against hers. "You belong here. You're smart. You need to stay here. We'll have all the time in the world when you're done. When the end of June hits, I'll be waiting for you at King's Cross. We'll get your stuff from your house and you'll stay with me. I promise." He said, lightly kissing the tip of her nose.

"But I don't want to stay here. Not without you." Noel hiccupped between sobs.

George smiled and kissed her lips. "Jessamy would wither without you. Think about it. She needs you, too. And Ginny. I want you to look after her for me." Noel buried her face into his chest and just cried. It was really pathetic, but she didn't want to be away from him. If she could have her way, she'd completely abandon Hogwarts and go with him. Playing quidditch professionally didn't require her to finish school, but what if that didn't work out? What if she had no other choice but to get another job? If she left now, she'd be screwed. George was leaving because he already had something secured. He and Fred had the shop. Noel had nothing at the moment.

"It'll be fine. I promise. Now, I need to go. But I've left you something up on your bed for you. Remember, I'll be there waiting for you, the moment you step off that train at King's Cross." George said as he pulled Noel in for one last hug.

Noel really didn't want to let go. She wanted to stay there like that, remembering every last bit of that moment. The way his arms felt around her, how soft his lips felt when they brushed against her skin. "I love you." She whispered against his lips and she could feel him smiling against her lips. "I love you, too."

Eventually they had to let go of one another and as much as she didn't want to, it was Noel who stepped away first. Her backpack was still on the ground beside her as George began walking down the corridor.

"Noel Adelaide Honeybourne. I will always wait for you. Two months, we've got this. Continue my legacy! Make that Toad suffer. Years of being by my side has taught you how to properly make one's life hell. Go forth, my beautiful grasshopper! I love you!" He shouted before one quick smile and he rounded the corner, disappearing from her sight.

Originally Noel thought she'd cry the second George left her sight. But instead she caught herself smiling. What could happen in two months before she would be able to see George again? Noel didn't realize it at the time, but she would soon see that the worst thing could happen before she was able to see George again.

* * *

**Author's Note: This chapter was actually interesting to write. But a huge thanks to michness for the brainstorming session we had! There are only a few chapters left in Seventeen's Vow, so stay tuned! Hopefully I'll have it finished before the beginning of March, but work is picking up and I have another trip planned for the first weekend in March. I'll do my best to get it up before then! Thank you to those that are reading this, added this as a favorite or are following this little story of mine. You guys rock! So please, don't forget to review! Thank you!**


	12. Astral Romance

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter universe, JK Rowling does! I do however own Noel Honeybourne and random OCs that will appear in this chapter and future chapters.**

**Seventeen's Vow is the second in my series of stories about George Weasley and Noel Honeybourne. The first in the series, Becoming an Adult is Difficult!, can be found in my list of stories and I highly encourage you to read that before starting on this one. It isn't absolutely necessary, but it'll clear up lots of confusion if you read it. This story will begin during the summer of George and Noel's seventh and final year at Hogwarts, and will end once Noel graduates. So please, enjoy the story! And don't forget to read and review!**

**Seventeen's Vow**

**Chapter Twelve - "Astral Romance"**

George leaving Hogwarts was probably the most unfavorable thing to happen to Noel since the fiasco with her mother. When she made it back to her dorm, she saw what George had left for her on her bed. That raggedy maroon hooded sweatshirt he wore all the time. The same hooded sweatshirt that Noel had the habit of stealing from George and keeping for herself. He always made fun of her for it, but Noel always retorted that she enjoyed how it smelled like him. And he always poked fun at her for it. Though one day she realized George had taken a sweatshirt of hers and hid it for himself. Noel never bothered to confront him about it, and she was still certain he had it as she couldn't find it amongst her belongings.

Noel also decided to take George up on his offer and continue the prank-war with Umbridge. Her classes still mattered to her, and while she continued to study, she also thought of ways to make Umbridge's life hell. And she wasn't the only one to do so. Lee Jordan helped fuel the fire by dropping dungbombs and stink pellets all throughout the corridors that finding any sort of clean air between classes was beginning to be impossible. And someone managed to set a hairy-snouted niffler into Umbridge's office where it tore apart her office in search of shiny objects. And it even pounced on Umbridge when she got back into her office and attempted to gnaw off her fingers to get at her shiny rings. Noel was convinced it was Anna who set the niffler on the loose in Umbridge's office. Fred and George would be so proud of Anna.

It was also very clear just how many Weasley products the twins were able to sell before they made their escape. Everywhere around her Noel was reminded of George. Umbridge would barely set foot into her classroom before students would either faint, vomit or spew blood from both their nostrils, thanks to the Skiving Snackboxes. Jessamy was one who ended up getting a dangerously high fever and when Umbridge tried to find the source of all of this, Jessamy simply stated, "I have Umbridge-itis." Umbridge would shriek with rage and frustration but could never figure out what was causing all of this. Noel's class and many others were put into numerous detentions to try and figure out why everyone was getting sick, but Umbridge never could figure it out. Though Noel's hand would eventually scar from the frequent use of the blood quill, it would turn out to be worth it just to see Umbridge lose her mind. Eventually Umbridge had no other choice but to let those students who were feverish, violently ill, and bleeding out the nose to leave her room in mass hoards.

Peeves also took Fred and George's mission to heart, causing more chaos than normal for the poltergeist. He would topple over statues constantly, shatter vases and burst through blackboards, nearly giving Umbridge a heart attack. He even burst through the blackboard once during Noel's class and she like everyone else in her class, burst out into a fit of laughter. Peeves shut Mrs. Norris into a suit of armor before Filch had to rescue her. He even smashes lanterns in the corridors, flooded the entire second floor when he turned all the faucets on. And he even took a liking to following Umbridge around the castle, blowing loud raspberries every single time she attempted to speak.

What was even better was that none of the other professors were helping Umbridge out. One day after Transfiguration, Peeves had been unscrewing a crystal chandelier in the corridor when she heard Professor McGonagall whisper to Peeves that it unscrewed the other way. McGonagall turned and saw Noel and Jessamy staring at her in awe and gave the girls a quick wink before walking the other way.

"Oh my God." Noel said as she continued to stand there next to Jessamy.

"This is amazing!" Jessamy shouted as she shot her fist up into the air.

Graham Montague managed to resurface shortly after Fred and George stuffed him into the Vanishing Cabinet. Turns out he apparated to get himself out and ended up getting lodged into a toilet on the fourth floor. And apparently the experience was so traumatizing, it left Montague disoriented for weeks. This was just one of those things that Noel couldn't wait to tell George about when she finally left Hogwarts.

But there was no way she could talk with him, at least not through letters. There was no way George's letters would ever get beyond Umbridge. And Noel was afraid to even send anything out by owl post in case Umbridge managed to get her stubby little fingers on those, too.

Noel was attempting to preoccupy herself, just so her mind didn't wander and make her miss George even more than she did. On her way down to the quidditch pitch for practice, Ginny managed to catch up to the blonde. "Hey, Noel!" She said cheerfully as she stopped running once she reached Noel's side. Noel turned to Ginny and gave her a small smile. "Hi, Ginny. Ready for one last practice before the game against Ravenclaw?" Slytherin had just barely lost to Ravenclaw so that left Gryffindor to play Ravenclaw in the finals for the quidditch cup. Noel's final quidditch game for Gryffindor and George wouldn't be there to see it.

"I suppose." Ginny shrugged her shoulders before turning to look at the blonde as they walked further down the hill. "How are you doing?" She asked and Noel just smiled. "I'm managing." Noel replied and sighed. She knew it would be difficult once George left but time seemed to be dragging on forever. There was just one more quidditch game and her NEWT exams to go through before she was finally free.

"Come on. I'm here for you, you know that. I mean, I'm not George but I'm still here for you." Ginny said and Noel had done her best not to begin crying again. She hadn't cried since that night George dramatically flew away from Hogwarts and she didn't want to start back up again. It was blatantly pathetic.

Noel stopped walking and so did Ginny. "Thank you, Ginny." The blonde whispered as Ginny pulled her in for a hug. "You mean a lot to George, but you're also my friend. I hate seeing you so sad."

Noel laughed as she and Ginny pulled apart. "Just another month left, you know. Though the thought of being thrown into the real world is a bit terrifying." Noel said as the pair began walking again.

"Have you decided what quidditch teams you're going to tryout for?" Ginny asked her as they approached the locker room. Noel shook her head. "Honestly, it's a bit overwhelming. It's like I'm being pressured to try out for the Cannons because I'm from Chudley."

"And not to mention Ron would probably be your biggest fan." Ginny interrupted.

"Funny, George said the same thing when I told him that."

"And Oliver Wood sent me a letter a few months back, saying that Puddlemere would be holding tryouts sometime late in the summer and said I should give it a shot." Noel said and Ginny nodded. "Well, there's plenty of teams to choose from. I'd personally enjoy playing with the Harpies." Ginny said and the girls continued talking about their quidditch aspirations until they set foot on the pitch for practice.

The final quidditch game of the school year, Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor came up fairly quickly. Which was good for Noel, she was slowly losing her mind waiting to leave Hogwarts. Noel was hoping for a victory for Gryffindor, since it was her last game for them. But knew she probably shouldn't get her hopes up. She wasn't the only one to think so, and they'd never dare tell him the real reason, but with the way Ron had been playing they weren't exactly expecting to win.

Though Lee Jordan, who was providing match commentary once again, sounded disheartened as he announced each player, Noel still felt butterflies in her stomach when he loudly said, "Chaser for Gryffindor, Honeybourne!" It was the very last time she'd be hearing her name called before the start of a Gryffindor quidditch game. Though she ignored that gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach that reminded her that once again, George wasn't there to witness any of this.

Ravenclaw Captain Roger Davies was the first to handle the quaffle. Noel attempted to catch him off-guard and steal the quaffle, but he managed to dodge her. And he scored because Lee Jordan swore loudly for everyone to hear. Noel couldn't help herself, she smacked her forehead with the palm of her head and sighed. Hopefully this wasn't a sign of how this game was going to turn out.

But Noel was wrong. The game did turn itself around. And it was like Ron gained this new form of confidence that he ended up playing infinitely better than his first two games. It was almost as if it wasn't even Ron, like someone was impersonating him. Noel caught herself grinning like crazy and felt her heart swell. She ended up forgetting about the fact that George wasn't there to see her and just played for herself. She deserved to win this, Ron deserved to win this, they all deserved to win this.

"Honeybourne scores!" Lee's voice shouted for everyone to hear, the gusto in his voice quickly coming back. Noel ended up losing count as to how many times she managed to score. A definite handful. Ron underestimated everyone and saved more goals than he let in. Somewhere along the way, Ginny fought with Cho Chang in a race to catch the snitch and she succeeded.

Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw for the Quidditch Cup.

Shouting excitedly, Noel and the rest of the team ended up taking the Slytherin's _Weasley is our King_ chant and twisted the words around.

_Weasley can save anything._  
_He never leaves a single ring._  
_That's why Gryffindor's all sing,_  
_Weasley is our King!_

_Weasley is our King,_  
_Weasley is our King,_  
_He didn't let the quaffle in!_  
_Weasley is our King!_

For the first time since George left Hogwarts, Noel was able to forget and finally be happy once again.

* * *

"Come on, George! Time to open up shop!" Fred shouted as he knocked on his brother's bedroom door. George and Fred had only left Hogwarts a month prior, and their business seemed to be starting out on the right foot. George tucked the purple hooded sweatshirt he managed to snag from Noel months ago underneath his pillow. The redhead wouldn't dare admit it out loud, but that sweatshirt was the one thing that helped him fall asleep at night since he left Hogwarts and Noel behind. It smelled exactly like Noel did, like vanilla and lavender. It seemed like an odd combination, but that's what came to George's mind.

Molly Weasley was still furious about Fred and George's departure from Hogwarts. She threw around phrases such as, _'What about your NEWT exams?'_ to_ 'You just up and left Noel behind?'_ and_ 'What is going through those minds of yours?'_ George felt it was as good a time as any to tell his mother that after she was finished at Hogwarts, Noel was moving in with him and Fred.

Naturally, she didn't take it too well. George didn't care what his mother thought. He was no longer living at home and was eighteen now. He was a big boy and could make his own decisions now. That and George told his mother that Noel was being kicked out of her home once she graduated. That seemed to convince her just a bit. But she still wasn't thrilled about it.

Their shop, which they named_ Weasley's Wizard Wheezes_ was fairly busy when George popped out of their apartment and walked into the office. It would probably get even more busy once school was out for the summer.

"You doing okay?" Fred asked George as he stood in the doorway to the office. George nodded before looking up at Fred, "Why wouldn't I be?" He was trying to play it off, but deep down he really missed Noel.

Fred grinned. "You miss her, come on. I miss that loon Jessamy but they're almost done. Before you know it, you'll be off running for her at King's Cross. Knocking over a few first years along the way. Squashing them." Fred said and George knew he was right. Probably about knocking over the first years as well. He just couldn't shake that awful feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was wrong.

"You're right." George concluded and Fred clapped his hands together. "Of course, I'm always right. You know that, Georgie."

"Though I'm not fond of the whole, we can't write to them bit." Fred said as he sat down in an empty chair next to George.

"If only Umbridge didn't sort through the post. I mean, if she really wants to be entertained, why doesn't she just run into Peeves? He could keep her busy for centuries." George finished and Fred smiled.

"But, I do have a bit of news for you. From mum." Fred said as he fished an article from the Daily Prophet out of his jacket pocket and handed it to George. "She sent it over earlier. Something in there is guaranteed to make you happy." He said as he stood back up. "Time to head back to work. Don't stay in here too long, it's only going to get more busy later, so I'll need your help." And with that said, Fred vanished from the office.

George looked down at the article and immediately smiled at the title.

**Gryffindor Defeats Ravenclaw for Quidditch Cup**  
**At Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

_In what was said to be a big surprise, Gryffindor overcame Ravenclaw for the championship match of the Quidditch Cup just last week at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Gryffindor was led by Captain and Chaser, seventh year Angelina Johnson who scored a total of forty points for the team. Keeper, fifth year Ronald Weasley put on quite a show and had his best game yet this year. But the real surprise of the match was Chaser and seventh year, Noel Honeybourne. She outscored both teams with one hundred points and even has recruiters from various teams in the British and Irish League talking about her. Her father, Alton Honeybourne, works for the Ministry in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. "She's gained quite a bit of interest since her last game at Hogwarts. I'm very proud of her and hopefully the tryout invites will start arriving once she graduates in the summer."_

There was more to the article, but George stopped reading there. At least Noel's father was supportive of his daughter's career path. But it still frustrated George that Noel's father couldn't stop his wife from kicking their daughter out of the house. Though it didn't matter. Noel would be staying with George, where she didn't have to be afraid of how she'd be perceived for wanting to professionally play quidditch. And she'd be safe with him, that's what mattered the most to George.

And the fact that recruiters now had their eye on Noel made George so proud of her. She had no reason to worry. Except she should worry that George will always be a blanket hog. And he was still absolute rubbish when it came to doing the laundry.

* * *

NEWT exams were next on Noel's list of things to conquer. She spent what felt like centuries studying for her exams, and wanted to try and get at least an _Exceeds Expectations_ in the subjects she would be taking the exams for. Herbology, Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions. The only one she was completely dreading was Potions. Good old Professor Snape would love to give her a _Dreadful_ or _Troll_ on her exams. Though she had done so much studying, she had enough confidence to get at least an Acceptable in Potions.

Once she had taken her NEWT exams, Noel ended up collapsing on top of her bed. Jessamy had since passed out on her bed from exhaustion. And they were all just ecstatic that they were all done. Now all they had to do was wait for their results, then they'd be set. They had no more exams to take. No more homework for classes. No more classes period. Noel's time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was quickly coming to an end, and she couldn't be more excited.

Deciding she wasn't ready to take a nap just yet, Noel walked back down the stairs into the Gryffindor Common Room. Just as she was about to sit down on the plush red sofa, Ginny appeared next to her. "Noel! I was just about to go to the Hall for something to eat. Care to join me?" The redhead asked and Noel thought about it. She had nothing else to do so it wouldn't hurt to go get something to eat. "Sure." She replied and the two began the trek down to the Great Hall. On their way down from Gryffindor Tower, they ran into Luna Lovegood.

"Oh, hello Ginny. Noel." The blonde girl from Ravenclaw spoke softly. Noel always had a hard time hearing her, she wished she'd speak up. "Where are you two headed?" Luna asked.

"Great Hall. I'm starving." Ginny said before Luna walked alongside the other two. "Want to join us?"

Luna shrugged her shoulders. "Might as well. I need a break from studying."

The trio wandered down a maze of corridors and stairwells. "How were your exams, Noel?" Luna asked and Noel sighed. "Dreadful, but I'm so glad they're over with. My brain couldn't hold onto anymore information." Ginny laughed. "I'm so glad I have one more year until I have to take the OWLs. Can't imagine what the NEWTs are like."

"Life ruining, that's what they are. At least, what they felt like." Noel said as she stretched her arms over her head as they walked along. "I haven't had a good night's sleep in months."

Both Ginny and Luna looked at one another and smiled, Ginny giggling. "What's so funny?" Noel asked, furrowing her eyebrows together

"Oh, nothing." Luna said before Ginny continued. "Are you sure the reason why you haven't gotten a good night's sleep recently isn't because you miss my brother?"

Noel flushed. "Oh, you mean Ron?" She grinned. "Oh, George. I do miss that dumbo but we're almost done. I'll see him soon enough."

Ginny had opened her mouth to say something when the three girls stopped walking. They had finally made it to the first floor, and as they began walking by a string of classrooms, it sounded like someone was shouting behind one of the closed doors. All three girls looked at one another and Ginny whispered, "Does that sound like Harry to any of you?" They paused and Noel could hear it. "It does, actually." She responded.

All three girls slowly approached the door while Ginny had her hand on the doorknob. Ginny looked back at Luna and Noel before she opened the door.

There stood Harry, Ron and Hermione. All looked taken aback at the three newcomers. "Hi there," Ginny said as she led the way into the room as Noel and Luna followed her in. "We could hear Harry shouting out there. What's going on?" Ginny asked and Harry looked angry.

"It doesn't matter to you three." Harry said roughly. "Well geez, that doesn't mean you can take your bad mood out on us." Ginny said as she raised her eyebrows. "We were only wondering if we could help you."

Harry shook his head. "Well, you guys can't help us."

Luna smiled. "You're being rather rude, you know." She said thoughtfully.

Harry turned his head and said something under his breath and Noel was about to open her mouth when Hermione spoke up. "Wait, Harry. Maybe they could help us out."

Hermione and Harry began arguing back and forth about Sirius. "Wait, Sirius?" Noel asked. "What is going on?"

"But Sirius is being tortured right this very second! We have to do something to save him!" Harry shouted once more. "What if this is a trap set up by.. Voldemort?" Hermione replied, having an awful hard time saying Voldemort's name. "We have to check and see where Sirius is first."

"How? How are we going to find that out?" Harry asked, his patience growing thin.

"Well, how about we use Umbridge's fireplace to see if we can get in contact with him." Hermione said, not looking too thrilled about this plan. "We'd have to draw Umbridge away again. So we'll need somebody to look out for us. That's where they come in." Hermione said as she pointed towards Noel, Ginny and Luna.

All three girls that walked in late for the party looked at one another. "We'll do it." Noel said and neither Luna nor Ginny said otherwise so they clearly agreed with her.

Though Noel was incredibly confused as to what was going on, the group stood there and created a game plan. They needed to somehow distract Umbridge so Harry could sneak into her office and use her fire to get in contact with Sirius. Who was, according to Harry, being tortured by Lord Voldemort somewhere. Ron said he would go find Umbridge and tell her Peeves was wrecking havoc in the Transfiguration classroom, while Ginny, Noel and Luna would all serve as lookouts while Harry used Umbridge's fireplace.

They began ushering what students still lingered out of the corridor, while Ron took off to find Umbridge. At one end of the corridor stood Luna, and the other end had Noel and Ginny standing next to one another. Right before George left all those weeks ago, he asked Noel to keep an eye out for Ginny. And while she wasn't thrilled with what they were doing, mainly because she was so confused as to what was even going on. Being there in that moment, she was able to look out for not only Ginny, but Ron as well. Fred and George were no longer there to watch out for their younger siblings, so Noel felt like she needed to do so for them. They trusted her, and she didn't want to do anything to lose that trust.

"Oy! You guys can't come down here!" Ginny shouted to a group of students who had just turned the corner into their corridor. She directed them around the swiveling staircase. "Someone set off Garroting Gas around here." One kid complained that he couldn't see anything before Ginny shouted, "That's because it's colorless, moron!"

It seemed that the news of the Garroting Gas had spread amongst the other students, because soon enough there was no one in Noel's sight. "Good one." Noel smiled and Ginny gave the blonde a thumbs up.

When Harry and Hermione slipped past them and into Umbridge's office, Noel turned around. Luna was still at the other end of the corridor, looking every which way in case someone was nearby. Ginny was to Noel's right, while Noel kept a look out down the left-hand side of the corridor. A few minutes flew by, but nothing happened. No one walked by, the corridor was awfully quiet. Noel was about to turn to Ginny to ask her if she noticed anything when someone grabbed Noel from behind.

Whoever it was was rather tall and beastly. From the looks of their large forearms, Noel could tell it was a guy. They had one arm woven tightly around her waist, forcefully lifting the blonde off of the ground. While their other hand went to cover her mouth. Noel had no time to warn Ginny or Luna, as she could see two other people creep up behind both of them as well. Noel tried yelling, but with the hand covering her mouth it only came out as a muffled sound. Once Ginny and Luna were caught in similar predicaments, Noel's captor loudly told her to stop shouting. So instead of shouting, she began to squirm in his grasp. "Stop that, you stupid girl!"

Much to Noel's surprise, Neville Longbottom soon joined their little party, trying to prevent a rather large Slytherin girl from grabbing Ginny. But he was unsuccessful, as he too was caught in a stranglehold by another large boy from Slytherin.

And here Noel was supposed to look out for Ginny, not let something like this happen. George was going to be furious with her when he found out about this.

* * *

Umbridge had caught them. Something had tipped her off and she now had everyone in her office. Noel, Ginny, Luna, Neville, Ron, Hermione and Harry.

"Good, good. This is excellent." Umbridge smiled deviously when Noel and the others were forcefully carried into her office. "Ah, it looks like Hogwarts will soon be a Weasley-free zone." She said as she looked towards Ron and Ginny, as Ginny tried desperately to kick at the shins of the large Slytherin girl who had a hold of her. "And dear Miss Honeybourne, you know hanging out with these Weasleys seems to only be getting you into trouble. Such a shame." Noel glared at Umbridge and managed to get one of her hands free, flipping the stout woman an unkind gesture with her middle finger.

"Now dear, that isn't very ladylike. Your wretched boyfriend is such a horrible influence." Umbridge said as whoever was holding onto Noel tightened their grasp. She winched and could feel all parts of her body cracking, which only made Umbridge smile all more wickedly.

Everyone suddenly became silent. Noel looked around the room and couldn't believe this was happening. Ron was struggling against his captor's hold as his lip bled profusely onto Umbridge's carpeted floor. Ginny was still struggling in the large Slytherin girl's arms. Neville seemed to be caught in a headlock and was desperately trying to free himself. And there was Hermione, who was desperately trying to throw her captor off of her, but was unsuccessful. Luna on the other hand, just stood limply next to her captor and looked incredibly bored with the group's current predicament. Harry was forced into a chair by Umbridge when someone walked into her office.

Snape.

"There you are, Professor Snape." Umbridge said sweetly. "I need you to give me another bottle of Veritaserum as quick as you can."

Snape just stood there. "You took my last bottle to interrogate Potter the last time." He said coolly.

Umbridge looked like her head was about to explode. "I need another bottle!" She shrieked.

"I can get you another, but it'll take a month to mature." Snape started to say and Umbridge violently shook her fists in front of her. "No! I need it right now! I found Potter here in my office trying to communicate with someone using my fireplace! I need to find out who and what is going on here!" Umbridge shouted and Noel closed her eyes. Her captor's hold against her was only getting tighter and Noel was finding it hard to breathe. Periodically she would squirm in her captor's grasp but all he would do in turn is grip onto her tighter.

Umbridge continued shrieking. "You're on probation!" She shouted at Snape, who in turn only raised his eyebrows at the shorter woman. "You're deliberately being unhelpful! I don't understand it! Lucius Malfoy always speaks so highly of you! I can't believe it! Get out of my office, now!" Snape did turn to leave but Harry began shouting.

"He's got Padfoot! He's got Padfoot in the place where it's hidden!"

Snape turned to look at Harry, his face inscrutable. "What does he mean? What's a Padfoot? Where what is hidden?" Umbridge demanded and Snape turned to her. "I have no idea what he's talking about. Crabbe, you need to loosen your hold a bit. If Longbottom suffocates, it'll just mean tedious paperwork for me. And Goyle, Honeybourne could easily be snapped in half, try not to because if you do, I'll have no choice but to mention it on your reference if you ever apply for a job."

Gregory Goyle, so that's the ape who was gripping onto Noel so tight she felt like her ribs were going to break.

Snape closed the door behind him and everyone else in the room had their eyes on Umbridge. "You're forcing me to do this, Potter. I have no other choice. The Cruciatus Curse ought to loosen your tongue a bit.."

Hermione squeaked. "That's illegal!"

But Umbridge either didn't notice her, or she didn't really care. "What the Minister doesn't know won't hurt him." She smiled wickedly as she took a few more steps closer to Harry. "After all, he still doesn't know that I sent those Dementors after you just last summer."

"It was you?!" Harry said and Umbridge laughed. "I was tired of sitting around while no one did anything about you. Only I took action against you. But you seemed to worm your way out of that situation. But not this time, Potter. Cruc-" Umbridge began to say but Hermione's shouts finally stopped her. "Harry! You have to tell her!"

Harry and Hermione argued back and forth, with Ron chiming in. "Who were you trying to talk to?" Umbridge asked and Hermione looked down. "We were trying to get in contact with Professor Dumbledore."

Dumbledore? For a moment, Noel stopped struggling against Goyle to listen in to what Hermione was saying. "We need to tell him something important!" Hermione went on to say where they looked for him, and that they needed to tell him the weapon was ready. Noel did her best to keep her face emotionless, she couldn't give them up. "We can show you, but I'm not showing them." Hermione said as she looked at each Slytherin who had hold of the others.

Umbridge finally agreed to have Hermione and Harry lead her to this so-called weapon, while the members of the Inquisitorial Squad offered to stay behind with the others. "You all will remain here until I am able to return, so make sure none of these miscreants escape." Umbridge smiled viciously as she pointed to Neville, Noel, Luna, Ginny and Ron. Draco Malfoy, who stood behind the group, nodded in response. "All right," He said, looking rather disappointed he couldn't follow along.

When Umbridge left with Harry and Hermione, everyone began struggling against their captors once more. Noel could see Malfoy out of the corner of her eye. "You're such an arse, you greasy little suck up." She shouted as she began squirming in Goyle's hold once again. Malfoy glared at the blonde and walked up to her. "You know, Honeybourne. It's such a shame your pathetic boyfriend isn't here to see this. I told him before that the next time we'd break more than your nose, and now's the perfect opportunity."

Ginny began stomping around once more, trying to kick at the large Slytherin girl's shins again. Noel struggled once more and while she did so, she managed to kick Malfoy in the chest, knocking him over. Everyone in the room barely had time to react before Malfoy got up, grabbing onto Noel's hair and forcing her head back. "I am going to love making this hell for you. All of you, but you most of all." He smiled wickedly as Noel wasn't sure what to do.

For once, she had no idea what to do. And here she let George down, she couldn't even save herself in order to protect Ginny and Ron.

* * *

_George!_

_George, wake up!_

_George! Get your arse up right now, you buffoon!_

George sat straight up and it took him a moment or two to realize where he was. He had fallen asleep at the kitchen table in the apartment he shared with Fred. He looked around the room and saw he was alone. Fred was still down in the shop, finishing something up. George placed his face into his hands and closed his eyes. That was a strange dream he just had. Someone was shouting his name, and it sounded an awful lot like Noel. Her voice was unmistakable. And he could see her in his dream, but she was just far enough out of his reach that he couldn't quite get a grasp on her.

There was that horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach once again. Something was wrong, and Noel was involved. And George knew there was nothing he could do about it. But it wouldn't stop him from trying. He got up quickly and ran out the door and down the stairs, shouting for Fred.

* * *

**Author's Note: Phew, that chapter is finished! There's only one more chapter left in Seventeen's Vow so look out for that shortly! I've already begun working on the next installment in the series, and though it has a title, I won't reveal what it is until it's posted! Thank you to michness for the review and once again, the brainstorming session! I appreciate those. And thanks, potterphilosepher for your kind reviews! And as always, if you read, please review! It's much appreciated.**


	13. Angels Fall First

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter universe, JK Rowling does! I do however own Noel Honeybourne and random OCs that will appear in this chapter and future chapters. **

**Seventeen's Vow is the second in my series of stories about George Weasley and Noel Honeybourne. The first in the series, Becoming an Adult is Difficult!, can be found in my list of stories and I highly encourage you to read that before starting on this one. It isn't absolutely necessary, but it'll clear up lots of confusion if you read it. This story will begin during the summer of George and Noel's seventh and final year at Hogwarts, and will end once Noel graduates. So please, enjoy the story! And don't forget to read and review!**

**Seventeen's Vow**

**Chapter Thirteen - "Angels Fall First"**

"Fred!" George shouted as he nearly stumbled down the stairwell that led into the shop below their apartment. Something had to be wrong, that dream he just had about Noel being in danger couldn't have been something he imagined. George needed to talk to Fred about it. "Fred! Where are you?" He asked when he finally stopped running.

"Office!" Fred said loudly, George could hear the rustling of papers as well. He made his way into the office and saw his twin brother there, shuffling papers around on the desk as if looking for something. "What are you doing?" George asked him.

Fred looked up and frowned. "Oh, nothing. It's too organized in here! Can't find anything!" He laughed and George crossed his arms over his chest. George may be a bit sloppy and unorganized in his personal life, but he found he rather enjoyed being organized with the business he shared with Fred. Well, at least one of them was. "What's wrong?" Fred noticed the look of concern on George's face and stood up.

George shook his head and kept his arms crossed over his chest. He began explaining the dream he just had to Fred, explaining as much of it as he could because as the seconds ticked by, the dream began to fade from his mind. "I just have this awful feeling. Something's wrong." Fred looked at his brother and patted him on the shoulder. "What're we going to do about it? We can't exactly go bursting into Hogwarts now can we? Umbridge would have our heads served to kittens on a platter." With a side of milk too, no doubt.

"I don't know. Perhaps the Order knows something about it?" George wasn't sure why he came to that conclusion. "Oh, maybe it was just all a bad dream." He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair.

Fred grinned and patted George on the shoulder. "You're way too protective of her, you know that? I'm sure Noel's fine. This is probably just your brain messing with you, because even though you won't admit it, you miss her way too much." Fred laughed and gently poked George's temple with his index finger as he spoke.

George stared at Fred and frowned. "Me, protective of her? Yes but have you noticed the size of her? She may be a tiny little thing but she could easily pummel either one of us into the ground if she really wanted to."

"Ah, not me, dear Georgie. I've got a whole foot on her, perhaps more. I can take her."

"Doubtful. Remember what happened last time?"

Now it was Fred's turn to cross his arms over his chest in defense. "Unfortunately I do remember. And other parts of my body do as well. They still haven't forgiven her for it, either."

* * *

Draco Malfoy had such a firm grip on Noel's hair that she could've sworn she felt strands of her hair part way with her head. Her mind was racing a mile a minute, trying to figure out what to do. They had to get out of this situation, and fast. If they were able to break free from their captors, they could easily flip this situation around in their favor. That's when Noel had an idea, and she didn't know why she hadn't thought of it earlier. Just as Malfoy raised his wand to shoot a spell towards her, Noel bit Goyle's hand.

Rather roughly, of course.

"Ouch! Son of a bitch, stupid girl!" Goyle shouted in pain as he dropped Noel to the ground, her forehead made sharp contact with the side of Umbridge's desk. Her forehead throbbed and she knew she was bleeding, but that didn't matter, she was finally free. She quickly scrambled to her feet and just as Malfoy was figuring out what just happened, she knocked his wand out of his hand and punched him hard on the nose, sending him to the ground. "Oh yeah, how exactly did you make that hell for me? And I hope I broke _your_ nose since you found it peachy that I broke mine. Next time, I'll make sure you can never have children." She grinned down at Malfoy as he held tightly onto his nose, her hand grabbing the wand she had hidden in her pants pocket.

"Stupefy!" Noel heard Ginny shout behind her and as she turned around, she saw that Ginny broke free of the Slytherin girl's hold, stunning the beastly looking girl to the ground. Ginny turned to Noel and shouted, "Down, Noel!" Noel didn't need to be told twice, the blonde quickly ducked as Ginny sent a hex towards Malfoy and Goyle, who had both just gotten to their feet.

"Bat Bogey Hex? Good one." Noel grinned as the group began working to help each other out. Spells were being thrown all over the place, and people were dropping to the ground like flies. Only the people who deserved it, of course. Neville got out of his predicament by shouting, "Impedimenta!" And Crabbe quickly shot across the room, unable to move.

Ron and Luna were both able to free themselves, both stunning their captors to the ground. Though the best of all was Ginny's Bat Bogey Hex. Little flapping bats flew out of the noses of both Malfoy and Crabbe, surrounding their faces as the pair of Slytherin boys started screaming. "Someone please, never let me forget this mental image." Noel said as the group ran out of Umbridge's office.

They barely stopped to access their damage. Ron's lip was bleeding worse than it was before, but he kept saying he was fine. Ginny had quite a few long scratches going down her cheeks, but she also acted like nothing was wrong. Luna seemed fine while Neville had a rather large lump forming just above his right eye.

Ron mentioned he saw Harry and Hermione leading Umbridge into the Forbidden Forest when Ginny stopped walking. "Noel, your forehead is really bleeding."

It was? Hmm, she hadn't noticed. Which was a lie, of course. She noticed, but she was trying to push the pain out of his head. "It's fine. Let's keep going." Ginny opened her mouth to protest but Noel took off again, leading the group into the forest.

Eventually they met up with Harry and Hermione, but Umbridge was nowhere to be found. As soon as Hermione said a herd of centaurs took Umbridge away, Noel grinned. "I really would've loved to see that."

"Sirius has to still be alive. We just need a find a way to get to him. We need to find a way to get to the Ministry of Magic!" Harry shouted once everyone settled down.

"We're going to have to fly, right?" Luna spoke quietly and Harry turned to her. "First of all, 'we' does not include you lot. You're not all going with us." He said as he pointed to everyone in the group, minus Hermione and Ron.

"Hey, I've got a broom that isn't locked away!" Ginny raised her hand and Ron snapped, "Yeah, but you're not going!"

Ginny stepped closer to Ron, glaring at her older brother. "Yeah well, Harry isn't the only one who can care about Sirius, right? We care about him, too!" She said as she pointed between herself and Noel. "We spent the summer with him, too. So you're not the only one who has a reason to worry!" The way Ginny was standing so defiantly reminded Noel so much of George and Fred. That was a bit terrifying.

"But you're too young!" Harry said in frustration.

"Shut it. I'm three years older than you were when you first fought You-Know-Who. I don't want to hear it. And we wouldn't be out here in the first place if I hadn't hexed Malfoy back in Umbridge's office."

"We're all in the D.A. together. Isn't this what we've been working towards?" Neville spoke quietly.

Noel raised her hand. "I don't care what you have to say, Harry but I'm older than all of you here." She pointed to everyone in the group. "And I promised George and Fred to look out for you two," She pointed two fingers towards Ginny and Ron. "So if you're going, I'm going."

"And we're coming, too." Neville said as Luna finished, "We want to help."

Harry looked around and he seemed to be thinking it over. He must've given up because he mentioned they still had absolutely no idea how they'd even get to the Ministry. They'd decided on flying but couldn't figure out how.

"I think we just found our answer." Luna spoke as she pointed to something off in the woods. Noel couldn't see it, all she saw were trees and greenery all around them. Hermione explained that what they couldn't see were thestrals, and you could only see them if you'd been a witness to death. "Still doesn't explain it." Noel looked around in confusion, while Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Neville did as well.

"But there's only two here, we can't take seven of us on two of these things." Harry said in frustration. "Ah but I'm sure more will come. They're attracted to the scent of blood. And these two here," She pointed to Ron and Noel, "Will surely lure more our way. Ah yes, here are more now!" She said happily, pointing back into the woods once more.

"Uh, how are we flying on things we can't see?" Noel asked nervously. She loved flying, but wasn't very fond of the idea of not seeing what she was flying on. Luna smiled and came over to help the others onto their thestrals before heading back to her own.

"Bloody hell, this would be fine if we could just see these things!" Noel heard Ron whine to her right. She had to agree with him, this was incredibly strange.

"Everybody ready?" Harry asked and there was a chorus of replies before Harry said, "Er, Ministry of Magic. Visitor's entrance. In London. Hopefully you know where to go." And the group was off. Noel was used to flying, but nothing like this. She was used to flying around on her broomstick, playing quidditch. Not flying on an invisible creature that you can only see if you've seen someone die.

Their journey seemed to take them forever, when in reality it wasn't so long. Twilight eventually fell and the sky turned this light then dark shade of purple as they eventually approached the London skyline. This whole thing was strange, this whole day was strange. First Noel had woken up to take her final NEWT exam, which was in Potions. And then she was being held captive in Umbridge's office because apparently Sirius Black was being tortured by You-Know-Who in the Ministry of Magic. Now she was going along on a rescue mission, and she not only had to look out for herself but she needed to keep a close eye on both Ginny and Ron.

When they finally landed, Noel slid off the side of her invisible mode of transportation and took her forehead into the palm of her hand. "That was incredibly strange. Though I think that's just my headache talking."

The group ran over to a receiver and heard a female voice on the other end. "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."

"Harry Potter. Ron Weasley. Hermione Granger. Noel Honeybourne. Ginny Weasley. Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood. We're here to save somebody! If you guys don't do something about it first!" Harry shouted into the receiver.

"Thank you." The female said. "Visitors must wear their badges at all times." Seven badges slid down through the metal chute that usually dispensed change to visitors. All of them quickly scrambled to pin the badges to themselves. Harry, Ron and Hermione pinned their badges to their robes, while the others had changed out of their robes earlier, pinned them to their shirts. Luckily Noel decided not to dress in something that would easily get in her way. Just her jeans, boots and that floral print long-sleeved top she was so fond of. Getting the blood out of it was going to be an incredible pain.

Harry led the way through the Ministry since he seemed to know where he was going. Noel had been to the Ministry quite a few times before, since her father worked here. But that didn't mean she knew where she was going. She only ever knew how to get to the seventh floor, where the Department of Magical Games and Sports was housed.

They came to a stop at a set of doors where their group paused before Harry opened the door and they all marched in. Everything was dark, and one wrong turn and they could easily get lost. Noel knew Ginny was right behind her while Ron was walking in front of her. She had to keep an eye on the two of them, she made a promise to George before he left. When they came to a stop, they were in a circular room. Harry asked someone to close the door they just walked through and Neville obeyed. Though Noel wished he hadn't. Now the room was almost pitch black, except for the flames that lit the walls before them.

As soon as the door closed, the wall of the circular room began to spin. At first Noel thought it was just her and her headache but soon she realized everyone else had seen it, too. "What was that?" Ron asked.

"I don't know but I think it was to prevent us from remembering which door we came from." Ginny whispered in response.

Harry reckoned they begin trying out doors and the first one they opened was much brighter than the one they were currently in. It was empty save from a few desks, there were lamps hanging awfully low on gold chains that made Noel breathe a sigh of relief. At least there was some light in this place.

In the middle of the room stood a giant tank full of green water and pearly white objects floating around. "What are those things?" Ron asked but nobody seemed to know right offhand.

"I think they're brains." Hermione whispered and Noel stuck out her tongue. "There goes my appetite." They all gathered around the rather large tank and sure enough, in the eerily lit tank there were definitely brains floating around in the green water. Noel could feel her stomach churn and she was so thankful she hadn't eaten before meeting up with Harry and the others. Otherwise she would've lost her lunch at this point.

"Let's get out of here." Harry said as they looked around, trying to figure out where to go next. Harry said something about his dream, where he went while in his dream. "We should go back to where we came from, pick another door from there." He said as everyone went back to where they started. But before they could pick another door, Hermione cast a quick spell and a large red X appeared on the door they just walked through. "Just so we know which door is which." She shrugged her shoulders at the thought.

No sooner that the door had shut behind them, the circular wall began moving around them once more. "I really wish the walls would stop doing that. It's like I had too much firewhiskey or something." Noel said while the others gave her strange looks. "What? I may not look it but I'm older than all of you."

"George and Fred are a horrible influence on you." Ron said and Ginny giggled.

They went through another door, to a room much larger than the last. It was dimly lit and the center of the room was sunken in, forming a stone pit at least twenty feet below them. The group seemed to be standing on the top tier of what looked to be rows of stone benches that rose around the room like some sort of amphitheater. On the lower most part of the floor stood a decrepit archway, which looked like if somebody touched it, it would crumble to the ground. Just by the looks of it, Noel was surprised it could even stand on it's own without any support from any surrounding walls. Hanging from the archway was a black curtain that despite there not being a breeze in the room, flapped around as if somebody had just touched it.

"Who's there?" Harry said loudly and Hermione quickly hushed him. "You need to be careful, Harry!"

Noel stood right next to Ginny just as Harry approached the archway. His wand was raised and he quickly looked behind the archway. Nothing must've been there because he came out on the other side, shaking his head.

"Maybe we should go." Hermione started to say but Harry cut her off. "Do you guys hear that?"

Hear what? The only thing Noel could really hear was the sound of their breathing, though perhaps that was Neville breathing awfully loud like usual.

"Ron, is that you?" Harry asked and Ron appeared at his side. "Harry, I'm right here." But Harry shook his head. "Can nobody else hear those voices?"

Luna walked closer to Harry and nodded. "I can hear them, too."

Noel sighed and inched closer to where Harry and Luna were standing. No matter how hard she tried to hear it, she couldn't hear anything but the flapping of the black veil in front of them. Hermione latched onto Harry's arm and pleaded with him that they needed to go looking for Sirius. Something must've clicked back into place in his brain because Harry snapped out of it, coming back to reality. "You're right, let's go." He said.

As part of the group turned their backs to the veil, they could see Ginny and Neville entranced by the veil before them. "Come on, you two." Noel said as she grabbed onto Ginny's hand, leading her away and Ron took hold of Neville's arm, doing the same thing. They walked back up to the door they came through, walking through it. Hermione once again placed a red X on that door and the circular wall began spinning again. Noel really wished the walls would stop doing that, it was starting to mess with her and make her head feel even worse.

When Harry reached for another door, he found it was locked. Ron tried opening the door, Hermione also tried opening the door. Both were unsuccessful. "Hey, how about that knife you got there, Harry?" Noel asked the dark haired boy and he nodded. Noel saw him with it earlier and figured perhaps they could jimmy the door open with it. But he was unsuccessful, and oddly enough, when Harry pulled the knife back, he saw that the blade had melted. "I vote we give up on that room." Noel raised her hand and the others agreed, except Hermione. "But Harry was able to go through all the doors in his dream!"

"Well I don't want to melt to death." Noel retorted and Hermione huffed.

They decided to try another door, and once Harry was able to open it, there was a look of relief on his face. "This is it! This is definitely it!"

This room was definitely different than the others. There were all sorts of clocks everywhere. Wall clocks, grandfather clocks, any clock you could ever imagine, it was there. The sounds of thousands of ticking clocks filled the room as everyone began walking through it. At the far end of the room stood a large crystal bell jar, and it was the source of the bright light in the room. The group began walking towards it.

Once they reached the crystal bell jar, Ginny pointed to the very heart of it. "Look!" Drifting along in the sparkling current was a tiny, bright colored egg. As it rose in the jar, it managed to crack open revealing a hummingbird. Though once the bird reached the surface, it fell back down and sealed itself back up into the egg. Ginny was entranced by the egg and wanted to see it turn back into a hummingbird, but Noel tugged on her arm, forcing her to move on. "Come on, Ginny."

"This is it." Harry said softly as they reached another door. Noel, along with everyone else, had their wands out and at the ready. She was feeling incredibly anxious. There was no telling what was beyond that door there. It could be anything, it could be a trap set up by You-Know-Who or it could be nothing at all. Noel was hoping that there wouldn't be anything in there.

Harry swung the door open. The room they were in now was large, it was the tallest room Noel had ever been in. And it was lined by rows and rows of shelves that were covered in small, dusty glass orbs. Though the shelves were lined with dimly lit candles, Noel could barely see a thing. And the room was cold, there was something eerie about this place. And then she remembered. "The Department of Mysteries." Her dad told her about it a few times when she was little, though she couldn't remember what he had told her about it.

"We just need to find row ninety-seven." Hermione whispered and they began walking down the rows in search for ninety-seven. "I think we need to go right, because here's fifty-four."

Noel kept her wand out as they crept in the direction towards row ninety-seven. Occasionally they would look behind them, just to make sure no one was following them. Noel noticed that as they passed each shelf, the dusty glass orbs had fading labels attached to them. "Ninety-seven! Found it!" Hermione whispered and they all stopped walking.

"Alright. That means Sirius should be down at the end of this row. This way." He pointed and began walking. The others followed closely behind him. But Noel couldn't see anything, at least if Sirius was there, she couldn't see him. "Harry, I don't see anything." The blonde whispered and he shook his head. "He's got to be here. Somewhere about here."

"Harry, I really don't think Sirius is here." Hermione said. Noel stopped walking. Harry was at the front of the group along with Hermione. Ron and Ginny stood on either side of Noel, while Neville and Luna stood behind them.

"Harry? Have you seen this?" Ron called out from Noel's left.

"What?" Harry asked eagerly and turned around to see Ron staring at a dusty glass orb on the shelf in front of them. "This. This one here's got your name on it." Harry moved closer to the orb, since he wasn't as tall as Ron he had to crane his neck a bit just to see properly. And sure enough, Noel could see Harry's expression change. There on the shelf in front of them was a dusty orb with a faded yellow label that had a date written on it from sixteen years prior and said, _S.P.T. to A. P. W. B. D. Dark Lord and (?) Harry Potter_.

Noel stood on her tiptoes and managed to read it. "Harry, why is your name on that label?" She stood there, unsure of what else to do. Harry reached his arm up to take the dusty orb in his hand, even though everyone around him was warning him not to. "I don't care, it's got my name on it."

Harry wrapped his fingers around it and lifted the orb off of it's stand. Nothing exciting happened, but Harry began to dust off the orb with his fingers. That's when something behind their little huddled group made Noel jump out of her skin

"Very good, Harry Potter. Now if you'll just turn around, slowly, and hand me that." The voice belonged to Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father. The group turned around slowly and Noel placed a hand over her heart. If it was possible to have a heart attack at the age of eighteen, she just had one.

Lucius held his hand out, asking Harry once again to hand over the orb. "To me, now, Potter." But Harry didn't budge.

"Where's Sirius?" Harry asked and Lucius laughed. No sooner did Lucius laugh, black shapes began emerging out of thin air all around their group, blocking their exit. Each hooded figure had their wands raised and pointed at the hearts of whoever was in front of them. Noel heard Ginny give a gasp of horror beside her so she quickly grasped onto her hand. It was then that Noel realized who these people were, Death Eaters. She remembered seeing them while they were at the Quidditch World Cup a few years before.

The group of Death Eaters laughed when Harry asked where Sirius was. Another one of them mocking Harry's voice. The voice belonged to a woman, which surprised Noel a bit. Her grasp on Ginny's hand tightened as the Death Eaters moved in closer to them, so close that they were mere feet away from Harry and the group.

"It's time you learned to tell the difference between reality and dreams, Potter. Now, give me the prophecy, or we'll have no choice but to start using wands." Lucius nodded his head at the glass orb in Harry's hand.

No one moved.

"Hand over the prophecy and no one gets hurt." Lucius said coolly.

That's when Harry began laughing. "Oh, right. I give you this," He held up the prophecy. "And then you'll just let us go on our merry little way?" Harry barely finished his sentence before the female Death Eater shouted, "_Accio Proph_-" But Harry was ready for her, shouting, _"Protego!" _before she managed to finish her spell. Harry still held onto the prophecy, almost as tightly as Noel still held onto Ginny's hand.

"If this is how you want to play, Potter. Very well then." The female Death Eater cackled. The group of Death Eaters stepped forward, attempting to surround Ginny and Noel. "How about this little girl here, perhaps we should torture her first." They had ignored Noel, but the blonde held tightly onto Ginny's hand and stood in front of her. "Not before getting through me, first." Noel spoke calmly, even though her heart was racing. But Harry stood in front of her. "How about I just smash this prophecy here if you touch any one of us. I don't think your boss will be too pleased if you go back empty-handed, right?"

The Death Eaters stopped moving and Harry nodded. "Now, what is this prophecy?" Harry began arguing back and forth with Lucius, but Noel hadn't been paying much attention. She was too busy trying to figure out what to do, how to get them out of there. How to get them out of there _alive. _Though eventually Harry's shouts brought Noel back to reality, causing all seven of them shout, "_Reducto!"_, sending seven different curses towards the shelves around them. The shelves began to sway, glass orbs began shattering, and everything began falling. Harry shouted for them all to run and that's just what they did.

Noel still had her hand wrapped around Ginny's and they began running. Noel wasn't sure where they were running, but they had to get out of there. The shelves began to sway even further, more glass shattered around them and it was only a matter of time before the shelves toppled down to the floor.

Somewhere in the shuffle, they managed to get separated from the others. Noel found herself with Ron, Ginny and Luna, but Harry, Hermione and Neville were nowhere to be seen. A wave of relief rushed over Noel briefly as she realized Ron and Ginny were with her. But they weren't out of the woods yet. The shelves were falling all around them and they had to think fast. "Come on, this way!" Noel shouted as she pulled the others in another direction. They held their arms over their heads in an attempt to shield themselves from the falling glass. Noel could feel shards cut into her arms, but decided it was better than shards falling into her eyes. A few pieces slid past her arms and to her face, but it didn't matter at that point. They had to get out of there.

Somebody had followed them, but Noel wasn't sure just how many of the Death Eaters were after them. "_Stupefy!" _She managed to stun one that appeared right in their path. Noel looked to her left and saw another Death Eater, his wand pointed directly towards Ron.

"Ron!" She shouted but it was too late, he was hit with the Confundus Charm. "_Expelliarmus!"_ Noel successfully disarmed the Death Eater before shouting another spell. "_Epoximise!"_ Noel shouted, causing the Death Eater who flung the Confundus Charm to Ron to stick to the wall next to him. One down, who knew how many more they had left to contend with.

Ron was disoriented and briefly, Noel had to let go of Ginny's hand to grasp his shoulders. "Come on, Ron!" She shouted and grabbed onto his hand this time. "We can do this!" She began to drag him along, and Ron giggled behind her. He was definitely hit with the Confundus Charm, the giggling was what gave it away.

The group of four fought, flung curses at the Death Eaters that still trailed behind them, and did everything they could to stay one step ahead of them. They were able to make their way back into the room with the tank full of brains, and at first it seemed like they weren't followed. Ron was giggling beside Noel, trying desperately to break away from the blonde. "Oy, Ron! Stop that."

Noel was struggling with everything, attempting to keep Ron from wandering off while acting like a loon, to keeping the Death Eaters that indeed followed them at bay, while protecting the others. "_Protego!_" Ginny shouted as the spell quickly shielded Noel and Ron from an unknown curse thrown at them from a Death Eater. "George will kill me if something happens to you!" Ginny shouted and Noel grinned. "Funny, he'll do the same to me if anything happens to any of you!"

The fighting resumed, and at one point Ginny toppled over beside Noel. "Ginny!" She shouted, bending down to the younger girl. Luna took Ron's hand this time, looking out behind them just in case. "Ah ha haha." Ron began giggling. "Uranus!" Definitely the Confundus Charm talking.

"Ginny!" Noel said and looked down at the redhead. She was gripping her ankle and biting at her bottom lip. "I can't move my ankle. I think it's broken." Ginny looked like she was doing her best not to cry. Noel's hands reached up to her forehead, forcing herself to think. The one person there with them who could easily carry Ginny was Ron, but he was too far gone that Noel wasn't going to let him do so. When Noel moved her hands away from her head, she noticed her right hand soaked with blood. Her blood. They needed to get out of there as soon as possible.

"Come on. I'll help you." Noel said as she managed to lift Ginny up and support her. "I've got Ron." Luna said quietly and they were off once again.

* * *

George was a nervous wreck the rest of that evening. It eventually drove Fred crazy, and he forced George on a trip back home to the Burrow. If anyone knew if something was going on, it would be their mother. She'd have some sort of information for them, because she did have eyes in the back of her head. Molly Weasley seemed to know everything going on, even if she didn't always want to tell them what it was.

The twins were sitting at the kitchen table at the Burrow, Molly was sitting across from them. "George, dear. I highly doubt anything's wrong." She desperately wanted to say that if Fred and George hadn't left Hogwarts so abruptly, George wouldn't be thinking the entire world was about to fall apart. But George wasn't convinced.

At some point, Arthur walked into the kitchen and stood at the end of the table. "Molly, can I speak with you for a moment?" He asked his wife and she stood up, being led out of the room by her husband. George and Fred looked at one another, shrugging their shoulders in confusion before both their parents set foot back into the kitchen.

Both Arthur and Molly looked at one another before turning their attention to Fred and George. "Now we don't know exact details just yet," Arthur began to say before continuing. "But the Order's just received word that there's a skirmish going on at the Ministry. Order members are on their way now. But you two need to know that your brother and sister are both there, Ron and Ginny are there fighting." Arthur paused and Molly looked over at George. "Noel's there, too."

Fred looked at his parents and as if they could read his mind, Arthur replied, "We're positive Jessamy isn't there, she's back at Hogwarts." George could practically feel Fred breathe a sigh of relief next to him. "So next time I have that horrible feeling in the pit my stomach again, I won't ignore it." George mumbled and Fred frowned.

Molly reached across the table and patted George's hand. "Everything's going to be fine. Once the Order gets to them, they're bringing them back here. You two are more than welcome to wait it out here for them." George stood up and Arthur followed suit. "I don't want to wait, I want to go find them myself."

"No. You can't. Besides," Arthur said. "By the time you get there, the Order would've already reached them. It's best if you both stay put." George sighed and sat back down. He had no choice but to wait it out, even though he so desperately wanted to apparate out of there and find his girlfriend, brother and sister himself.

This was going to be the longest wait of George's life, and there wasn't anything he could do about it.

* * *

**Author's Note: I know I promised that this would be the last chapter. But as I began writing, the chapter just got longer and longer. And I didn't want to smash everything into one chapter so I've decided on just one more, totaling fourteen chapters for Seventeen's Vow. Hopefully this chapter was decent enough, I'm not the greatest action writing, but I enjoy it. And thanks to michness and fantasyluver714 for your reviews! Thank you for reading, and please review! There's a bit more to come so please stay tuned for one more chapter of Seventeen's Vow!**


	14. Once Upon a Troubadour

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter universe, JK Rowling does! I do however own Noel Honeybourne and random OCs that will appear in this chapter and future chapters. **

**Seventeen's Vow is the second in my series of stories about George Weasley and Noel Honeybourne. The first in the series, Becoming an Adult is Difficult!, can be found in my list of stories and I highly encourage you to read that before starting on this one. It isn't absolutely necessary, but it'll clear up lots of confusion if you read it. This story will begin during the summer of George and Noel's seventh and final year at Hogwarts, and will end once Noel graduates. So please, enjoy the story! And don't forget to read and review!**

**Seventeen's Vow**

**Chapter Fourteen - "Once Upon a Troubadour"**

Just hours ago, Noel was back in the dungeons of Hogwarts, taking her Potions NEWT. Now she was currently fighting for her life right in the middle of the Department of Mysteries, at the Ministry of Magic. At the moment she was steadying Ginny with her broken ankle, Ron was currently giggling like a small child after being hit with the Confundus Charm. And Luna was acting as their lookout. Noel's head was pounding and for a brief moment, she thought they were screwed.

Thankfully as if right on cue, two figures nearly ran into them. "Harry! Neville!" Noel breathed a sigh of relief when they stopped in front of them. "Hermione! Is she okay?" Noel just noticed Neville carrying her in his arms. Harry nodded. "She'll be fine, just knocked out. You guys?"

"Ginny's ankle is broken and Ron," Noel turned in Ron's direction just as he began spinning in circles, still giggling. "Confundus Charm." She waved her hand in the air and Harry nodded. "Hey, Harry! I just saw Uranus! Uranus!" Harry smacked his forehead.

"Your forehead, Noel. It looks pretty bad." Neville said and the blonde frowned. "I know. It's fine. I'll be fine. We need to figure a way out of here first."

Both Luna and Noel held Ginny up between them while Harry took hold of Ron and heaved him towards a door. They turned to the multiple doors they faced earlier and they stood still. Twelve doors, so they had a one-in-twelve chance of actually picking the correct door out of there on the first go. Horrible chances, in Noel's opinion but they didn't have much of a choice.

They made it to the door when a woman shrieked behind them. Bellatrix Lestrange, she managed to catch up to them. "There they are!" She shouted and the fighting resumed once more. Stunning spells flew across the room, Noel saw Harry struggle with Ron and went back to help Neville with the still unconscious Hermione.

"We've got them! Here they are! We've found them!" An unknown voice shouted and Noel suddenly had all of Ginny's weight on her since Luna had let go. She heard Harry shout for help and she quickly turned around, stunning one Death Eater who crept up behind Harry. "_Stupefy_!"

"Up you go." Noel said as she hoisted Ginny up once more and began running as fast as she could. It was difficult running with Ginny's broken ankle. "I'm okay! I promise! I can hop!" Ginny said and Noel didn't have time to respond. Somehow they ended up back in the room with the brain tank and Noel cursed. "Shit, geez. How do we get out of here?" Somewhere along the way they'd been separated from the rest of the group again. But she could hear loud bangs, crashes, things falling to the ground not too far away. They were still fighting.

Ginny let go of Noel's hand just as the blonde had turned around to stun another Death Eater. "_Stupefy!_" That spell really was coming in handy. "Ginny, stay put." Noel said to the redhead and she nodded in response. They had to figure a way out of this place, or at least figure a way out of this predicament. No sooner did Noel take a few steps to the right, another Death Eater appeared and had his wand pointed straight at Ginny.

Everything happened so fast but Noel felt like she was moving in slow-motion. She had no idea what the Death Eater cast, but all she knew that whatever it was, was aimed for Ginny.

_Keep an eye on Ginny for me, Noel._ George's voice ran through her head. George was counting on her to look after Ginny, and she couldn't let him down.

Her legs moved as quickly as they could, and Noel was able to block whatever spell was meant for Ginny with a quick shout of, "_Protego!_" If she had been less than a second behind, she wouldn't have been able to shield Ginny. Though Noel didn't have time to catch her breath. The male Death Eater snarled, now pointing his wand at Noel. "You're rather annoying, girl. We've been given orders to kill any of you if you get in our way. And I'm getting tired of you."

"_Immobilus._" The Death Eater said coolly and Noel felt her body freeze. "Now you can't defend yourself." He laughed and while doing so, Ginny sat behind Noel, readying her wand. "_Expelliarmus._" And Ginny's wand flew out of her hand as the Death Eater disarmed her.

The last thing Noel remembered was the Death Eater pointing his wand towards her chest and opening his mouth. She didn't even hear what spell he cast because right away, her body flew into the stone wall, rendering her unconscious.

* * *

George could barely sit still as he waited for news on Noel, Ginny and Ron. He even began pacing a path into the floor of the living room at the Burrow. "Sit down already." Fred said and George frowned. Both boys raised their eyebrows and Fred threw up his hands in defeat. "Pace away then, Georgie."

Silence filled the room once again before George finally planted himself down on the sofa next to Fred. "Maybe she should've come with us." He whispered and Fred turned to him. "What?"

"Noel said she wanted to leave Hogwarts when we did. But I wouldn't let her."

"Right you were, she belongs there. Well, belonged there seeing how she's pretty much done." Fred replied.

"But if I'd let her come with us before, she wouldn't be in this mess." George said as he held his face in his hands.

Fred frowned and patted George on the back. "You know you can't do this to yourself. Just say she did come with us, who knows what kind of trouble Ron and Ginny would be in." Fred was right, he did tell Noel to look after Ginny when he left. "That didn't mean she could go skipping into a battle and fight. Not without me."

"Ah, I see what this is. You're just jealous she's fighting without you. Big hero girlfriend." Fred tried to joke but all George did was shake his head. "Come on, George. She's tougher than she looks. I'm sure she'll be fine."

Molly had been waiting in the kitchen while Arthur had left earlier with other members of the Order to see what they could do. There was a loud popping noise in the kitchen and they could hear a kitchen chair slide across the kitchen floor. Both George and Fred ran into the kitchen to see who had just apparated and found Remus Lupin standing there. He looked disheveled, more so than usual. His clothes had patches of blood on them, a fresh cut glistened on his left cheek. "They're fine. They're at Hogwarts right now." He held his hands up in the air before anyone could ask him numerous questions. "Both Ginny and Ron are fine. A bit dazed, but nothing to worry about."

That's when everyone turned to George and Lupin began speaking again. "Noel's fine, just unconscious at the moment." George felt his heart sink but was incredibly grateful that Noel came out alive.

"Well, that settles it. I'm going to see her." George said, not even bothering to wait for his mother's reply. "I figured you'd say that." Lupin smiled at George.

* * *

It was nice finally getting some sleep, ever since crunch time began while studying for her NEWTs, Noel barely got any sleep. And it would've been a peaceful sleep if those around her would just keep quiet. She couldn't make out what anyone was saying, mainly because she kept telling her body that she wasn't ready to get up. Not yet. She just wanted five more minutes, then perhaps she'd at least think of getting up.

Noel barely had a chance to open up her eyes before a blur of brown hair had nearly jumped on top of her bed.

"Noel Honeybourne! You went all battle happy and didn't take me with you?!" It was Jessamy. "You know, I was taking a nap and when I woke up wanting to go to dinner, you were nowhere to be found! Couldn't find Ginny. Or Hermione. Or Ron. Nobody! Just Evie, and then she left me for Mr. Hufflepuff!"

"Sorry, sorry." The blonde slowly sat up in bed and once her eyes began to focus, she looked around the room. Jessamy was the only one in there with her, and she couldn't help but feel disappointed. Sighing, she realized that George most likely wasn't going to be there, he wasn't allowed back in the school for something like this. But she hoped to see him during her graduation ceremony. "What happened with everyone else?"

Jessamy took that chance to finally settle down and stopped bouncing. She began explaining what happened, Ginny was fine and had been there to visit Noel earlier. Ron was also fine, not loopy anymore. And then she looked down at the floor, avoiding any eye contact with Noel.

"What? What happened?" Noel asked, moving a bit too quickly and put a hand to her forehead. "Ouch." The blonde winced, realizing there was a bandage covering part of her forehead. "Whoa there, take it easy. That thing finally stopped bleeding." Jessamy said as she took her gaze off of the ground.

"Yes, mother. But no, really. What happened?" Noel prompted again, this time Jessamy kept her gaze away from the ground. "Sirius didn't make it. And You-Know-Who really is back."

_Sirius didn't make it_.

_You-Know-Who really is back_.

What, how? Noel had so many questions to ask, but Jessamy wasn't the person who could answer them for her. She had forgotten that the brunette even knew about Sirius, but that was the last thing on her mind. Voldemort really was back. Jessamy heard everything from Ginny, who overheard Ron and Harry talking shortly after they were brought back from the ministry.

"Madam Pomfrey said that as soon as you got up, I was supposed to go get her. You'll probably be out of here soon. Which is good because we graduate tomorrow." Jessamy patted Noel's shoulder and got up to get Madam Pomfrey.

It was good they graduated tomorrow, because Noel really didn't want to be alone. And she had so many questions that needed answers. She was just ready to finally be out of this place.

* * *

Graduation came much too quickly, Noel's head was still pounding and all she wanted to do was sleep in. But she was up early. They needed to get ready and head down to the Great Hall for their graduation ceremony in a few hours. As the blonde stood in front of the bathroom mirror attempting to make herself look presentable, her mind kept racing. Sirius was dead. Voldemort really was back. And in a few hours she would set foot in the real world. Goodbye childhood, or teenage hood. Taking a deep breath, Noel examined the large gash that trailed from just above and through her right eyebrow to the top of her cheek bone. That was probably going to leave a nasty scar but it didn't bother her.

Noel smoothed out her uniform and took one last look at herself in the mirror. She hadn't changed much since her first year at Hogwarts. She'd only gotten an inch or so taller from her eleven year old self, her curly blonde hair just now touched her shoulders. The only significant differences now were the slowly healing cuts on her face, the large gash patched up with small pieces of medical tape. This was the last time Noel would ever see herself wearing her Gryffindor robes. She had to take another deep breath to remind herself that everything was going to be okay. Noel just had to keep telling herself to stay positive.

When they were finally ready, all of the seventh years who were eligible to graduate waited along a corridor just outside the Great Hall. On the other side of those large doors sat friends and family. And while Noel was nervous to see her family, she was also excited to finally see George. She hadn't seen him in nearly three months and while the wait had been worth it, she never wanted to go through something like that ever again.

Since they would all be graduating in alphabetical order of last name, Jessamy stood in front of Noel. "Please don't jump on top of George the moment you see him. You'll scar everyone here for life when you two go at it like rabbits." Noel rolled her eyes and whispered, "I think that should apply to you and Fred. Besides, Madam Pomfrey told me to take it easy."

"Oh shove off. Just make sure you cover Molly's eyes for me!" Jessamy grinned and Noel shook her head.

Thankfully, Noel didn't have to wait very long to see George. The ceremony seemed longer than it really was and once she could officially call herself a graduate of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she wanted to jump for joy. But couldn't because if she did, she felt like her head would explode.

"Hey there, beautiful." George's voice called out to her as Noel quickly turned around.

There he was. Looking a bit different from the last time she saw him. His bright red hair wasn't entirely too messy, though it was sticking up a bit in the front like he'd purposely styled it that way. He was also wearing a suit, _a suit_. The only other time Noel ever saw him dressed similarly was during the Yule Ball in their sixth year. But as always, he had that same trademark grin on his face. And he looked just as handsome as she remembered him to be. "George Weasley, you're wearing a suit!"

* * *

Normally it wouldn't be this difficult finding Noel in a crowd of people, but this was one of those times where her short stature worked against her. Fred had gone off to find Jessamy earlier, so that left George alone. But it didn't take him long to spot her. It was always that mess of light blonde curls that gave Noel away. It had to be her.

"Hey there, beautiful." George heard himself say and she quickly turned around.

When she turned around the first thing he noticed was just how bright her green eyes were. He couldn't believe he forgot just how green they were. Then he noticed the long gash protruding through her right eyebrow. George had to tell himself that he couldn't have prevented this. Though if he had stuck around, Noel wouldn't have gotten herself into that mess.

"George Weasley, you're wearing a suit!" Were the first words Noel spoke to him and George grinned. "Snazzy, isn't it? Figured I'd treat myself to something nice since the shop is quite the success." George said as he smoothed out his jacket and shook his head. "Who am I kidding? Enough with my suit, come here." He barely had time to get the words out before Noel took a running start and nearly threw herself into his open arms.

She was there, Noel was finally back in his arms. George had spent the last few months missing her constantly, but trying his best to cover it up. Then when he learned she was off at the Ministry fighting against Death Eaters, he thought he'd never be able to see her again. He wasn't there to protect her like he promised but she'd stood her ground. She fought and was still there with him now.

When the pair broke away finally, George looked down at Noel. His hand cupped her cheek, trying not to agitate the cut above her eye. "Like my battle wound?" Noel whispered, grinning. "I'm only jealous because I wasn't by your side. So Noel Honeybourne," He whispered, his lips inching closer to hers. "Don't ever do that again." He said before finally pressing his lips against Noel's. It was their first kiss in months and he knew for certain it wouldn't be their last that day.

After what seemed like hours, Noel was the first to pull away. She smiled up at the redhead and slowly shook her head. "Can't promise anything. Though now you'll be keeping an awful close eye on me, aren't you?"

George stood there, pretending to be thinking. "Well I could lock you up in a tower or put you in a bubble so no one could ever hurt you again, but that wouldn't be fair."

"No tower. No bubble. Just you. I've missed you." Noel spoke softly, standing flat on her feet once more.

His smile returned and George wrapped his arms around the blonde's shoulders. "Pretty sure I've missed you more. Just ask Fred. He was getting tired of hearing me-" George quickly stopped talking when he noticed someone standing behind Noel. The blonde quickly looked up at him, unsure of why he stopped talking mid-sentence. "What's the matter?" She asked.

"You'll probably want to see this." He said quietly as the hands he had on her shoulders slowly turned Noel around. Her back was now against his chest and Noel could see exactly why George stopped talking.

Noel's mother, father and older brother were all standing there.

It was a bit of a surprise, George definitely didn't see it coming. He had his hand pressed lightly against the small of Noel's back as he gently nudged her forward. "I'll be right here." He whispered into her ear as he saw her cautiously take a few more steps forward. George stood off to the side, pretending to not be listening in, but really he wanted to hear everything they were saying.

"You all came. I wasn't sure if you were going to make it." Noel said, her hands linked together behind her back.

Bryce, her brother, couldn't stop smiling. "Of course we came! Do you think we'd miss this? My baby sister graduating from Hogwarts, somehow making it out of Potions with Professor Snape alive?" Noel laughed as her brother pulled her in for a hug. Her father greeted her the same and whispered into her ear, "You've got quite a bit of quidditch teams asking for you to come tryout for them." There were quidditch teams that really wanted her to come tryout for them? Noel couldn't help but smile at the news.

That just left Noel's mother. The pair of blonde women just stood there for a moment. Noel could see her mother's eyes wander up to the gash above her eyebrow, and she knew her mother wanted to question her about it. She knew her mother would love to scold her or call her reckless, because everyone knew about the Battle of the Department of Mysteries now. It was all over the Daily Prophet. Her family had to know that she took part in that battle.

But they never said anything to her about it. No '_We're so glad you're fine!'_ and no '_We're so proud of you for what you did in there!'_ Which really didn't surprise Noel once she thought about it. Her mother wasn't exactly the praising type, though neither was her father. But her brother? Noel knew she'd hear about it from him eventually.

"Congratulations on graduating, Noel." Her mother said softly as she quickly gave her daughter a hug. Her mother looked like she wanted to say something else but thought against it. "We should take you out to celebrate!" Alton said as he hugged his daughter once again.

Lynette quickly shot Alton a look and he backed down. "Actually dear, we hate to dash away but we really need to get going. We just wanted to come over and congratulate you. You'll be home to gather your stuff then, right?"

Oh. Yeah. Noel was being kicked out of her house. How could she have forgotten about all of that? Oh that's right. She was too busy fighting for her life in a battle that her family hadn't even bothered to mention to her. Noel nodded, not even bothering to smile. "I'll be by then." And with that, her parents were gone.

Noel looked to Bryce. "They really didn't have anywhere to be, did they?" She asked and he shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly, no idea."

George saw the coast was clear and he went back to Noel's side, sliding his left hand into her right one. "Well then, we're having a big celebration back at the Burrow. End of the year mixed with your graduation party, we should really head off. Want to come along?" George looked to Noel's brother.

"Don't need to ask me twice." Bryce grinned.

* * *

The Burrow was packed with people. It normally was pretty packed, but there were more people here than Noel had ever seen before. Everyone kept coming up to her, saying how proud they were of her. Molly kept smiling and patting Noel's shoulder. Arthur wouldn't stop chatting about which quidditch teams she wanted to tryout for. Ginny kept coming over to see if Noel wanted or needed anything. Fred and Jessamy were getting a kick out of watching Anna chase the garden gnomes. And at one point Ron even came up to her and asked if she was going to play for the Cannons. "It would be awesome if you did! Then I can say I know one of their players! You could give me tickets to games!" At times it felt a bit overwhelming, but she decided that was just her head making her feel nauseous.

Though thankfully when everyone stopped hounding her, Noel had a chance to finally sit down. She sat outside, on a grassy hill just a bit further up from the Burrow. It was a hot summer's day, which meant no more jumpers or pants. Instead she wore shorts and floral print tank top. She had discarded her blue sneakers, setting them down on the grass beside her. It was just nice being outside. She wasn't cooped up inside the walls of Hogwarts anymore. She was finally able to roam free. For the time being, at least.

"There you are." Noel heard George say from behind her as he plopped himself down on the grass to her right. "Ron kept asking you about the Cannons, didn't he?" He asked and Noel turned towards him, smiling. She could hear Anna off in the distance singing, rather loudly. That girl was quite the entertainer.

"Naturally. I think he forgets that I saved his life back at the Ministry and all he wants to know is if I'm going to play for the Cannons." Noel laughed and looked in front of her once more.

"You're going to pick whichever team you want. And whichever team you pick, I'll gladly support." George began to say as Noel turned to him once more, giving him a look of doubt. "Yes, even if you pick the Cannons."

The blonde smiled and leaned over, kissing George's lips before pulling away. "What would I do without you?" She asked quietly.

George placed his fingers on his chin, pretending to think. "You'd cry. Miss me terribly. Never be able to sleep again. Probably wither." Noel smacked his arm. She was definitely feeling much better than the day she left the hospital wing at Hogwarts. The gash on her forehead was beginning to heal, but it was clear that it would end up leaving a not so nice looking scar. Since her other injuries were rather minor, scrapes and bruises, those would manage to heal up rather quickly. The only thing that bothered her was that she was still tired, and she'd only been away from Hogwarts for less than a day. Noel figured that would eventually work itself out.

"Miss you, yes. Cry, of course. Never be able to sleep again? I could probably manage and I wouldn't have to fight for the blankets. And George Weasley, I wouldn't wither. Because I won't have to worry about being away from you. You know you're stuck with me now, right?" Noel asked and George smiled. "I wouldn't say stuck with you. I want to be with you."

The pair sat quietly together, hand in hand, as they watched nature unfold around them. There was a faint breeze going by, flowers swayed in it, large tree limbs barely moved against it. Noel rested her head on George's shoulder and couldn't help but smile. It was so hard to believe that she had fallen in love with a boy she met when she was barely eleven years old, in Diagon Alley, as she shopped around for her books for Hogwarts. That same boy who she eventually became good friends with in their second year, after a group of Slytherins had cornered her and he came to her rescue. The same boy who went through so much trouble just to prove how much he cared about her. The one who asked her to live with him.

Noel was happy, but deep down she was scared. She was now an adult, fresh out of school. She had so many decisions to make. All she knew was that she wanted to play quidditch professionally, even if she didn't have her mother's blessing to do so. Now she had to figure out which teams to tryout for. Her father had slipped her a few letters before he left Noel's graduation and she had the chance to look at them earlier. So far it seemed that the Holyhead Harpies, Chudley Cannons, Tutshill Tornados, Puddlemere United, Falmouth Falcons and the Montrose Magpies were interested in at least seeing her. Noel decided to attend each tryout session that she could, and hopefully at least one of these teams would be willing to bring her on the team.

And Voldemort was back, Noel knew she should be more terrified of that but she decided to really worry about it when the time came. She couldn't just drop everything because of that. And if she focused on other things, her mind wouldn't wander and tell her everything was doomed.

"What are you thinking about?" George asked, pressing his lips to the top of Noel's head.

His words broke her out of her thoughts. Noel moved slightly, lifting her head so she could see George's face. Despite everything going on, Noel couldn't believe just how lucky she really was. George was smiling and Noel could feel her heart skip a beat. This all seemed too good to be true, but she didn't care. For once, she was happy with where she was in her life.

Tonight, she could enjoy being by George's side and enjoy being around those that care about her.

"Just thinking about how much I love you." Noel whispered. "And I know you took that purple sweatshirt from me, Weasley."

"I love you, too and I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. What purple sweatshirt? You have a few of those." George grinned, he clearly knew exactly what she was talking about.

With a quick kiss to George's lips, Noel was up on her feet. "Okay then. Well, perhaps I should go find your mum and she can tell me all these wonderful, embarrassing stories about your childhood. Perhaps find some embarrassing, naked pictures of you as a baby." The blonde began walking away and George hopped up on his feet.

"Oh, I know what sweatshirt you mean. It's the nice smelling one that I slept with every night. Because I missed you. There. Are you happy I admitted to that?" Noel turned around to see George standing there, his arms crossed over his chest. "Very happy." She smiled as George ran for her, managing to toss her over his shoulder. "I love you, so please don't go asking my mum about what hilarious and embarrassing things I did as a child. And you don't need those pictures, you get to see me naked whenever you want."

Unfortunately, Noel wasn't able to hear any embarrassing childhood stories about George later on. Some party guests had left when those that were still there sat around talking to one another. Ron and Anna had just gotten into an argument over which quidditch team Noel should end up playing for. "It'd be perfect if she played for the Cannons. They would really benefit from having a chaser like her." For being almost twelve years old, Anna was pretty vocal with her opinion on which team Noel should pick. "The Cannons would benefit from having _anyone_ be their chaser. I could play for them and they'd start winning. The Montrose Magpies on the other hand, Noel would fit in there. She should go for them." The pair continued to argue and Ginny had to remind Ron that he was having this argument with an eleven year old, and he quickly shut up. "Ah-hah! I win!" Anna shouted, dancing around the tables Molly had set up for everyone outside the Burrow.

Noel was sitting at one of the tables, George sat to her right while Jessamy and Fred were seated across the table from them. Noel's brother Bryce was still around, he was talking with Molly at the adjacent table. And when Anna finally stopped skipping happily around the tables, she plopped herself down in a seat next to Jessamy. "Good job, kiddo." Fred grinned and passed Jessamy's younger sister something underneath the table. The younger girl grinned and Jessamy smacked Fred's shoulder. "Bribing my sister to get on Ron's nerves. You're incredibly evil."

"I know." Fred laughed and Anna happily bounced in her seat. "Besides, you like it."

Just then George stood up and attempted to get everyone's attention. It wasn't hard getting their attention, the only people still around were either members of the Weasley family, Jessamy and Anna, along with Hermione and Noel's older brother Bryce. "I just wanted to say congratulations to both my beautiful girlfriend Noel and her trusty sidekick Jessamy on graduating from Hogwarts."

"Hey! Who you calling a sidekick?!" Jessamy shook her fist in George's direction.

George flashed Jessamy a smile before turning away from the brunette. "As I was trying to say. Noel." The redhead turned to the blonde, who was still sitting at her spot on the bench. She turned and looked up at him and felt her stomach flutter. "What you did the other day at the Ministry was both brave and brash. And when I heard about what was going on, I was terrified of losing you." George continued as he reached forward and took hold of Noel's hands before speaking any further. "This has been on my mind for a bit now and I was wondering that if you, Noel Adelaide Honeybourne, would marry me?" Somewhere in the middle of George's speech, he managed to get down on one knee as Noel still sat in her seat.

_Wait a minute._

George Weasley just asked Noel to marry him.

For a split second Noel thought he was just messing around with her until she saw the silver ring he had in his right hand. This was real, Noel wasn't hallucinating or imagining all of this. George really just asked Noel to marry him.

She could feel everyone's eyes on her, and for a moment Noel forgot to breathe. Normally she hated making such a big decision and this was probably the biggest decision she would ever have to make in her life. Should she really marry George Weasley?

"Psst, you might want to breathe now." Anna whispered into Noel's ear.

* * *

**Author's Note****: Wow, it's finished and it's a cliffhanger! Managed to finish in a timely manner this time, as well! I just wanted to thank all of you for sticking with me through this entire story! All of my reviewers, michness, potterphilosepher, GoldenWolf25, fantasyluver714, LilFantasy, JessieK23, shinogirl93 and everyone else who read this but didn't review. You guys are awesome!**

**There's one more story left in this little George and Noel trilogy, and once I have it up and running, I'll let all of you know here! I'd really appreciate it if you guys could all keep an eye out for it, and enjoy reading the next installment just like you did with Becoming an Adult is Difficult! and Seventeen's Vow. Again, thank you for reading, everyone!**


	15. Upcoming - For Whoever Brings the Night

**Author's Note: Now that Seventeen's Vow is officially finished, I'm posting the very first chapter of the next story, For Whoever Brings the Night! So keep an eye out for it, and give it a look! If you can't find it, just check out my profile and the story will be listed underneath somewhere! I just uploaded it a few moments ago so if it isn't showing up right away, give it a bit and you'll find it!**

**Thank you so much once again for all the reviews! So remember to check out For Whoever Brings the Night!**


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